When Li Ke got back, he told Jinx about what had happened that day, even though she didn't care about it at all, but that was Li Ke's habit.
Just like Jinx would share her weird and wonderful inventions and toys with Li Ke every day.
Li Ke would also tell Jinx about the things that happened to him each day.
Although she wasn't very interested, Jinx sat obediently at the table and listened to Li Ke talk about the people he had met that day.
She would occasionally chime in with a few words during the journey.
"So she's really amazing? But Li Ke, she's younger than me, can she really beat Vander?"
"Yes, she's incredibly impressive, but Irelia, who's coming here in a few days, will probably be even more impressive."
Jinx, holding her chopsticks, mumbled with the chopsticks in her mouth, "Then, Li Ke, do you think I can become as powerful as them?"
"With the weapons you made yourself, I think you're actually better than them, right?" Li Ke said after thinking for a moment.
When technology develops to a certain level, it can create a spectacle comparable to that of Demigod.
Jinx can't do it now, but that might not be the case in the future. Li Ke believes that the fully evolved Ultra Ultimate Death Rocket is no less powerful than a missile.
If Jinx uses this thing to bombard the Kinkou Order, can Akali handle it?
The answer is clearly no.
Under the bombardment of the Ultra Ultimate Death Rocket, no matter how fast or agile Akali is, she cannot avoid this "catastrophe" level area attack.
Ultimately, Akali may be very strong, capable of taking on dozens or even hundreds of Noxians single-handedly, but she is still ultimately a "human" being; she will be injured if hit by a gun, and will be scarred if stabbed by a sword.
On the contrary, if Akali were to assassinate Jinx wouldn't last more than two moves against her.
However, it's clear that the "powerful" Jinx is referring to is not the same thing that Li Ke is referring to.
"I mean myself. I mean, can I become as powerful as you guys, powerful without weapons?" Jinx said, slumped on the table, biting her chopsticks and holding her head, looking rather listless.
After leaving Zaun, Jinx realized that there were just too many powerful people in this world. Back in Zaun, Jinx thought she was strong enough to take Jinx three to five people together with her bare hands and feet, without even using weapons.
What Wei can do, she can do too.
But once she actually came out, she realized she had underestimated the world, especially in Ionia.
There are just too many amazing people. A few days ago, Li Ke and I went fishing in the evening, and she saw with her own eyes a resident of Bond Village, a farmer in the town, who could jump more than three meters high!
Holy crap! That's over three meters tall!
And he didn't seem to be using much effort; he looked very relaxed.
This made Jinx deeply suspicious: why were the Zaunite's physical abilities so much worse Ionia ', even though they were both human?
Is it because of magic?
Because the Ionia eat magically imbued food every day and live in a magically rich environment, their bodies have been altered?
Jinx became increasingly convinced that her guess was correct, but then she realized that it was a long process of change, or, in Viktor's words, an evolution.
The Ionia have lived here for countless years, nearly ten thousand years, and through generations of genetic changes, they have become what they are today.
Therefore, this doesn't mean that Jinx can just stay here for a while, eat some local fruits, and then she'll be able to jump more than three meters away with ease, just like the Ionia.
"Why do you suddenly want to get stronger?" Li Ke said, amused, looking at Jinx, whose appetite had greatly decreased.
If we're talking about getting stronger
Jinx can indeed become stronger; she can simply use Zaun's existing Shimmer technology to become Glow Modified Person.
After all, wasn't Jinx transformed into "Shimmer Superman" by Singed's Shimmer during the original War of Two Cities?
However, that level of strength only means she's slightly stronger than an ordinary person. Without using her own crafted weapons, she still can't compare to Akali.
"A sense of crisis, Li Ke, I feel a sense of crisis now, understand?" She looked at Li Ke and continued, "Since leaving Zaun, you've met so many more people, and they're all young, capable, and beautiful women."
As he spoke, Xiao Jin let out a long sigh, "Sigh."
In Zaun, Li Ke is quite popular, but everyone is afraid of the blue-haired little madman. However, it's different outside of Zaun; nobody knows Jinx at all!
Moreover, what happened on Bilgewater served as a wake-up call for Jinx.
Li Ke is a really charismatic guy.
Like a deflated balloon, Jinx slumped on the table, eating half-heartedly.
Seeing this, Li Ke stood up, reached out and ruffled Jinx's hair, and said with a smile, "Haven't I told you countless times? Don't think so much, I won't leave you."
"I know, but I can't help it, because overthinking is a woman's nature," Jinx said, wrinkling her nose.
"If you want to become stronger, I'll see if I can come up with a way." Li Ke thought about it; making Xiao Jin stronger wouldn't be a bad thing.
If she feels threatened, she will be uneasy. Also, becoming stronger will allow Jinx to protect herself, which is a good thing.
So Li Ke spoke up, "You should show more respect to Janna when you go back to Zaun. Stop treating her like a pet."
"What do you mean? Can Janna make me stronger?" Jinx's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she stood up to look at Li Ke.
She's so clever! Although Li Ke didn't say it explicitly, Jinx had already grasped the key information from just that one sentence!
Don't even mention it, if Janna can make me stronger, then I'll go back and be filial to Janna! I'll never poke her little belly with a pen or rub her head again.
It's just about respecting the Deity, right? I, Jinx, can do that!
"Janna is Deity. The more people believe in her, the more powerful she becomes. Gods can do things that ordinary people cannot understand; otherwise, how could they be gods?"
"So when you get back, respect Janna and build a good relationship with Janna. In the future, when her power is fully restored, go and ask her for help. She will definitely be able to make you stronger, and you might even be able to use magic." Li Ke said, looking at Jinx.
He felt this method was truly feasible, after all, he had gained magical abilities with the help of Ahri and Kindred, and there were various stories on Runeterra that proved that the representatives of the gods were capable of possessing extraordinary abilities.
In a way, it's somewhat like a blessing?
Anivia granted humanity the power to wield True Ice, demons bestowed upon Nilah the power of Demigod, and the Mount Targon chose mortals as their representatives, transforming them into Celestials.
Even in Ionia, the power of the prophet Karma is actually a kind of inheritance.
Therefore, Janna will be able to do the same thing after she regains her strength.
But should Jinx gain Janna's abilities?
Li Ke felt uneasy whenever he thought about that scene.
Because the idea that Jinx could use magic was something Li Ke had never even considered before. Think about it, a peerless genius in scientific research suddenly going off to play with magic—that's really strange, isn't it?
Wait a minute, something's not right. Li Ke suddenly realized something: it's not surprising that Jinx knows magic.
Because he remembered that in the Star Guardian skin line, Jinx was a magical girl.
It's that kind of magical girl who shouts about friendship and bonds, and then gets all fired up!
Li Ke imagined Jinx using magic, but what about Jinx?
Hearing that she could also become stronger, she immediately cheered up again. Her little mood came and went quickly, and she lowered her head and started eating her rice.
In the early morning in Navori, at the rebel camp, Irelia, fully dressed with several gleaming silver blades floating behind her, stepped out of the house and appeared outside the camp.
Irelia rubbed her faceplate and felt a chill.
Northern Ionia is very close to Freljord and has a series of icebergs. As a result, due to the influence of the local environment and climate, the air in Navori is filled with moisture in the early morning. When a breeze blows, without the shelter of trees, the cold wind carrying moisture is very biting.
This made Irelia shrug her shoulders and rub her body to warm it up.
She looked up and gazed at the other end of the camp, where an elderly peasant woman was dozing alone in a deckchair.
"Grandpa, why are you out so early?" Irelia thought for a moment, then stepped forward and asked.
The old woman opened her eyes, saw Irelia, and immediately smiled, revealing a smile with several missing front teeth. She said, "When you get old, you sleep less. I really couldn't sleep, so I came out to sit for a while."
"You can't fall asleep here. It's damp in the morning, and you'll get sick if you do," Irelia said seriously.
She is usually very patient with the elderly.
"It's alright, I'm dressed quite warmly. But you, Zann Family's daughter, why don't you sleep a little longer? You're still growing." The old woman said to Irelia, then sat up, reached into her pocket, and took out a handful of dried fruit with a hard outer skin.
He grabbed a handful and handed it to Irelia, who said with a smile, "Have some?"
"There's not much food left," Irelia said, looking at the fruit in her hand.
The surrounding forest spirits went berserk, and the camp was short of food. Irelia could only eat two meals a day, let alone the ordinary people in the camp.
"Relax, Zann Family's daughter, we never lack food here." The old woman smiled, reached behind her back and took out a small knife. She pried open the fruit and put it in her mouth to chew.
After chewing a couple of times, she said, "See, this stuff isn't suitable for an old person like me."
With a slight push of her thumb, Irelia crushed the fruit's outer shell, extracted the fruit inside, put it in her mouth, and began to chew.
The fruit tastes very fragrant and sweet.
Irelia couldn't resist crushing another one and eating it.
Seeing this, the old man used a knife to pry open the fruit in his hand and then handed it to Irelia.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Irelia asked her.
"I'm old, my teeth aren't good anymore, I can't chew," the old man replied.
Irelia nodded, and she ate one after the old man pried one open.
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment, then Irelia couldn't help but say, "Would you like to hear me vent?"
"Of course, you are our leader."
Irelia was taken aback. "A leader?" She shook her head and said, "But I've never wanted to be a leader. Besides, I'm not worthy of being a leader at all."
The old man looked at Irelia with surprise and said, "Why would you think that?"
"I killed another person yesterday, one of our former comrades," Irelia said, a hint of grief in her eyes. Her head bowed, she clutched dried fruit tightly in her hand, and whispered, "The cemetery is littered with corpses. Before, they were our comrades who died fighting the Noxians; now, they are our comrades whom I have killed with my own hands."
"This is the fourth person this month."
The old man didn't speak, but quietly looked at Irelia and listened to the child's complaints.
Sometimes, she felt they were too cruel, placing all the burdens on this child. At fifteen, she should be in the prime of her life, pampered at home, loved by her parents, and cared for by her elders.
But she became the leader, pushed into that position by everyone, without anyone asking her if she wanted it or was willing.
This seemed to be the way things should be, as if it were the natural course of events.
"No one wants to accept the death of someone they know. These are all unavoidable circumstances. I've told myself more than once that handing this land over to the Brotherhood would be no better than Noxus."
"But I... I'm really, really tired."
As Irelia finished speaking, her body trembled, for she realized that her hand was being held by a calloused hand, a warm hand radiating heat, which made Irelia involuntarily raise her head.
Then, she met the old man's eyes.
"It's all the work of the spirits, child," the old man said earnestly, looking at Irelia. "This isn't your fault."
"But I destroyed peace. Sometimes I even wonder if I killed peace with my own hands. If I hadn't chosen to leave the Brotherhood, if I had..."
"Trust your instincts. Didn't you just say that if the Brotherhood control of this land, things wouldn't be any better than in Noxus?"
"But peace." Irelia said anxiously.
"Peace? What a beautiful word. Believe me, child, I know better than you what peaceful times are like. I miss those times; those days were incredibly wonderful."
As the old man spoke, he released his grip, picked up the dried fruit and knife, and began to pry the fruit open towards Irelia.
"But the world has changed. Things are different now. There's no need for me, you, or anyone else to cling to the past."
She placed the pried plum in Irelia's hand and said with a smile, "You know what? When I was young, I could pry open plums with my bare hands, just like you. I was so strong back then, and my teeth were perfect. I could eat anything. But I can't now. My younger self would definitely be unhappy about it, but what does it matter?"
"Because I'm young and don't need to live in this time and place."
Irelia blinked, as if she understood, but also as if she didn't quite grasp what the old man meant.
But she felt much more relaxed.
"Someone sent me to Bond Village to recruit two people to join the resistance. But is inviting them to join us now a good thing or a bad thing?"
Irelia asked the old man.
She believed in the wisdom of the old people, because they had witnessed all sorts of things over a long period of time.
Just like her own grandmother, Irelia still remembers her words to this day.
The old man glanced up at Irelia, then lay back in his chair, closing his eyes as he said:
"I think you should think this through, Zann Family's daughter."
"You look much more cheerful now than before."
"."
Irelia paused for two seconds, then placed the fruit inside a lining of her clothes, a rare smile appearing on her face.
Alright, let's go to Bond Village then.
Let's see what those two masters I've heard about are like.
She hadn't been to the South in a very, very long time.