The Contest of Technology

Seeing Aubrey's outburst of anger, his supporters quickly tried to reason with him, warning that losing his composure at such a crucial moment could lead to utter defeat. 🍧♣ ♠😺

After grumbling and discussing for a while, Aubrey calmed down.

"This is my fault for not verifying his identity. We've lost two games in a row, so we've gotten our just desserts. Now that both sides have sent an outside player, we can't continue like this, since this is an internal matter for the Kalin Family."

That old fox knew I was strong and was afraid Viktor wouldn't be a match for me, so he apologized and then called on someone from the Kalin Family to take the stage.

However, what he said wasn't wrong. Now that both sides have fielded a foreign player, it would seem a bit unreasonable for Jorba to continue having me participate, since most people here know me, and it's impossible to impersonate someone from the Kalin Family.

At that moment, someone squeezed out from behind Jorba: "The Kalin Family's affairs should be resolved internally, so let me handle it!"

I turned to look at the person who spoke. He was handsome and dignified, and looked quite like Jorba, but much younger.

He held a Warhammer in his hand, which emitted a blue-green light. It was undoubtedly a Hextech Weapons, but it looked so much like Jace's hammer!

Jorba was overjoyed to see him. "You're back, Jace!"

"I'm a little late, I hope I didn't miss your election, Uncle Jorba!"

It really is Jace, and he's also Jorba's nephew!

I feel much more at ease now. Jace versus Viktor, a battle between two inventors, is going to be quite interesting.

I remember the two of them were rivals in the game, but I didn't expect they were from the same family and were still opponents.

I stepped down to avoid Aubrey using this as an excuse to shirk responsibility. "It's up to you now."

"Don't worry, I will definitely help Uncle win the position of family head!"

Viktor, staff in hand, and Jace, Warhammer in grip, locked in combat.

This is the final showdown between the two sides; the winner will become the head of the family, while the loser will have to wait for the next opportunity.

For Jorba, it's no big deal; if he loses, he can simply wait for another chance. But if Aubrey loses, he might never have another chance to run for office.

On the one hand, he was unpopular, and on the other hand, he was much older Jorba Giorba, so he was even more nervous at this moment.

I watched the two fight while listening to Jorba recount their feud.

It turns out that Viktor and Jace are not only both members of the Kalin Family, but they were also good friends when they were children.

Viktor is one of the Twenty-Eight Chairs children, the same age as Jace. They were very close friends since childhood and were in the same class in school.

What caused their relationship to break down was not the complicated relationships between adults, but rather Piltover's most popular technology: Hextech.

After enrolling in the Phiros Family's technology academy, Jace became deeply fascinated by Hextech creations. Aside from school, he would discuss this technology with Viktor whenever they met.

Viktor was not interested in this. He felt that a civilization built on scarce resources was unreliable, Piltover would face a crisis if its resources ran out one day.

To become truly powerful and survive among great nations, the only true path is through alchemy and magic using ordinary resources.

Due to ideological differences, Viktor dropped out of Ferros Institute of Technology not long after entering the institute, and his contact with Jace gradually became distant.

However, the two still met frequently. Whenever they met, Jace would talk incessantly about Hextech. After a while, Viktor finally lost his patience, yelled at Jace, and then left without paying attention to his astonishment.

→

This was the first rift in their relationship, and what truly led them down the path of hostility was an experiment conducted by Jace.

After their argument, the two didn't speak to each other for a long time. Jace naively thought that Viktor didn't understand the intricacies of Hextech, so he decided to show him his latest achievement: the Hextech Warhammer.

Viktor realized he had gone a bit too far, so he warmly welcomed Jace and patiently watched him demonstrate the Warhammer. That's when an unexpected incident occurred.

Jace made a mistake and lost control of the Warhammer, causing an energy spill in Viktor's laboratory that blew up his years of research!

Viktor was furious. He felt that Jace was just showing off and didn't respect his hard work at all. He launched a furious attack on Jace, but Jace escaped.

The matter didn't end there. Seeking revenge, Viktor smashed Jess's lab to pieces while Jace was out, including two unfinished Hextech Creations.

When Jace returned and saw everything in his lab, he immediately knew it was Viktor's doing. He took his Warhammer and went to find Viktor, only to learn that he had already gone to Zaun.

Having failed to find Viktor, Jace returned to Piltover. He knew that even if he found Viktor, he couldn't do anything to him. The best way to get revenge was to crush Viktor's research results with Hextech!

The conflict between the two had been building up. Later, Jace encountered a shortage of Primal Crystal and went to the Shurima Desert to find resources. Now he has just returned and encountered today's events.

With old and new grudges intertwined, the two fought fiercely. Although Hextech was advanced and powerful, it was ultimately not as mature as alchemy, which had been developed for hundreds of years. Moreover, Viktor was a gifted magician.

After I finished listening to the feud between the two, Jace was already at a disadvantage. All his weaknesses had been exposed, and he was completely at Viktor's mercy, while he knew almost nothing about Viktor's weaknesses.

It was only then that he realized his former friend knew him far better than he knew him!

However, Jorba is no longer so worried about winning or losing. After several matches, he is more concerned about the safety of his own people.

Jace was already covered in wounds, but he still gritted his teeth and persevered because he found that Viktor's attacks were much weaker than before.

This is also a drawback of traditional alchemy, as it is too dependent on individual physical strength and the wear and tear of equipment.

Viktor was well aware of his weakness, and when he realized Jace's intentions, he released a gravity field that trapped him firmly.

"You lost to Jace, no, I should say your technology lost." Viktor's voice was metallic and resonant.

"I'm afraid you've run out of ideas, haven't you? The technology of the old world is always so deceptive; it seems incredibly powerful to the weak, but is utterly insignificant in the face of true power."

"You can't even move, yet you're still spouting nonsense!"

"But you have no power left. You went to such lengths to transform yourself like this, is this all you can do?"

"This is a glorious evolution; I'm just not completely finished yet!"

"Hmph, only Hextech can illuminate the path forward. Your outdated thinking is not evolution, but regression!"

"Only by transforming into a magical machine can one experience the wonders of alchemy. Let me help you complete your evolution, Jace!"

"Then I'll let you experience the thrill of electric power!"