The previous events did not affect the interior of the Immortal Bastion, and Li Ke guessed there were two reasons for this.
If one of them is invited to tonight's dinner by Boli, then nine out of ten people are related to LeBlanc.
Another reason, of course, is Swain. At this dinner, LeBlanc practically went to Swain, "I'm going to cause trouble." Do you think Swain would be unprepared?
Therefore, walking down the street with Katarina, Li Ke couldn't see Noxians at all.
"Li Ke, thank you for helping me." Katarina, who had been walking quietly ahead, suddenly spoke. She turned her head to look at Li Ke. As she walked, her skirt parted, revealing her long, fair legs. Katarina's thigh muscles were firm, and her calf muscles were well-proportioned, exuding a healthy beauty.
It has to be said, Katarina really has a muscular physique.
Jinx also has defined abs and a hint of abdominal muscle, and Li Ke thinks that kind of figure is particularly attractive.
But if it's Katarina... wow, Li Ke has no doubt that Katarina has six solid abs, the kind that's as hard as rock. Katarina is a woman who makes you feel very safe.
If this were placed in an adventure/fantasy anime, then Katarina would probably be a Big Sister- like character?
"It's not that serious. Even if I didn't get involved, this wouldn't affect you at all." Li Ke shook his head after hearing Katarina's words, walked to Katarina side, and continued, "Swain has been keeping an eye on your situation."
Looking back now, he did help Katarina uncover Boli's plot, but Swain had been nearby all along. After obtaining demonic power, Runeterra was practically transparent to him.
Raum is a great demon who holds secrets. With Swain in Noxus, Swain can know what happens in the Material Realm every day and what might happen in the future.
It's important to understand that Raum's ability isn't to eavesdrop on secrets, but rather to steal them. That's right. Raum often absorbs the souls of the dead to learn the secrets they hold. It doesn't use something as unrefined as eavesdropping to obtain secrets.
Therefore, it must be said that Swain's behind-the-scenes maneuvering is truly remarkable.
"One thing at a time." Katarina shook her head and calmly looked at Li Ke, saying, "I will get my revenge if I have the chance, but not now."
Katarina said firmly to Li Ke, and Li Ke, seeing this, said nothing more, only smiled at Katarina, which resulted in jealous Xiao Jin hugging Li Ke's arm tightly.
A dozen minutes later, led by Katarina, Li Ke and his group arrived at the real Immortal Bastion.
The place where Li Ke was previously located was also the area surrounding this huge black castle. Perhaps because Noxus was growing stronger and its territory was vast, it simply gathered the surrounding land together and called it the Immortal Bastion.
"Please come this way, Mr. Li Ke. Grand Commander Swain is waiting for you in his study." As soon as you reached the main gate of the massive black castle, two tall Noxus soldiers in red armor approached you.
They bowed slightly, their tone respectful.
"And what about me?" Katarina asked.
"Ms. Katarina, Commander Swain wants you to go back first. The Grand Commander will contact you later," the soldier standing on the left said.
Katarina put one hand on her hip, smiled nonchalantly, and nodded, saying, "Then, I'll be leaving now."
She nodded to Li Ke, then turned and walked down another road.
"Come on, this way please."
Five minutes later, after passing through the castle's main hall, Li Ke arrived at a huge study.
Li Ke thought it was more like a library than a study, with hundreds of bookshelves, each with several rows, filled with various antique books.
A man wearing a black wool cloak and with neatly combed white hair stood in a corner, a black and red raven perched on his shoulder, holding a book in his hand and silently reading it.
"President, Representative Li Ke has arrived."
"Okay, I understand."
Swain twitched his fingers, closed the book, and put it back on the shelf.
The two guards who led the way respectfully left Swain's study, and Swain turned around to look at Li Ke.
With a Li Ke look in his eyes, Swain stepped forward, his back straight and his steps steady.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord of Zaun."
He extended his hand and spoke to Li Ke.
Li Ke extended his hand and shook hands with Swain, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you too, President of Noxus."
Swain for a moment, then smiled slightly. He withdrew the only hand from his body and said, "Come on, Li Ke, Silco, and Mel, let's talk over here."
"As for Mr. Talis and Ms. Jinx, I suggest you read some books, because you certainly won't like the topics we're about to discuss."
"Who are you? What makes you act like you know me so well?" Jinx snapped at Swain, clearly annoyed by Swain words.
Swain wasn't surprised by Jinx's sudden attack, and calmly said, "Li Ke, come on."
"Jinx, go read your book."
"Look! Fine! Look!"
Jinx's eyes flickered, she muttered something, and ran off.
Jayce naturally followed him out. He couldn't contain himself any longer when he entered the study; he was incredibly excited.
Nonsense, for a scientist, is there anything more exciting than gaining new knowledge?
The reason Li Ke would agree with Swain was because of an Easter egg.
Swain has a voice line in the game that goes something like, "Many faces disappeared in the firelight... it's all her fault."
Before this line first appeared, many people thought it was an Easter egg referring to Annie, but with the birth of the animated series Twin Cities, everyone discovered that this line was actually an Easter egg between Swain and Jinx.
Therefore, Jinx was right; Swain does indeed know the people of the two cities very well.
He understood Jayce, Jinx, Mel, Silco, and even Sevika, but Swain couldn't understand Li Ke, which was why he didn't want to associate with Li Ke. However, at Boli's dinner party, Li Ke directly named LeBlanc and mentioned his presence.
Now he has no choice but to contact Li Ke, even if he doesn't want to.
In front of the long table in the study, Swain had prepared several chairs in advance. After everyone sat down, Swain picked up the silver teapot and began to pour tea for Li Ke and the others.
"Where's your Demon Arm?" Li Ke asked Swain curiously.
Faced with Li Ke's sudden question, Swain remained completely calm, his hand holding the teapot steady and strong. He said softly, "Under normal circumstances, I really dislike using that ability because it distracts me."
"This country needs me at any time," Swain said calmly.
Li Ke nodded, looked at Swain, and after a moment said, "Aren't you curious how I knew?"
"I have had my own serendipitous encounters, and you certainly have your own too. Just like LeBlanc said, you always seem to appear in another world." Swain everyone was being served tea.
Mel, holding her delicate teacup, looked at Li Ke, then at Swain, her eyes full of curiosity.
She had actually suspected that Li Ke could go to another world, and the reason she suspected this was because of Janna, Janna once said to Mel, "Li Ke has disappeared again."
When Janna said this, Li Ke was sitting right next to her. Others might not have heard what Janna said, or they might not have taken it seriously, but Mel remembered it.
Now, after hearing Swain's explanation, Mel realized that it was indeed true.
But Mel was happy.
Because Li Ke is powerful and has secrets, Twin Cities will also become powerful.
Piltover and Zaun are now locked in a deadlock!
Swain sat down, took a sip of his tea, then looked at Li Ke and asked, "What do you think of what LeBlanc did?"
You mean Mordekaiser?
Swain nodded.
"Yes, Mordekaiser is a huge problem, but Swain, this problem isn't just LeBlanc's; it's your problem too, and mine." Li Ke thought for a moment, then looked at Swain seriously.
Swain asked this question, Li Ke had to answer it carefully.
This concerns the future of the Twin Cities and the relationship with Noxus. Li Ke has never considered Swain an enemy because there are greater enemies outside.
Mordekaiser, Viego, Celestials, Void
These troubles outside Runeterra also taught Li Ke a lesson: Runeterra cannot afford to fight amongst themselves and deplete each other's strength.
Technology brings productivity. Noxus has been constantly waging war because it's poor, hasn't it? You're poor, that's okay! You have plenty of land!
Scientists in the Twin Cities could certainly help Noxus improve its land conditions, enabling Noxus to adopt an agricultural lifestyle.
Li Ke absolutely did not believe that all Noxians were warmongers, because through occasional lessons from Silco, Li Ke knew that so-called warmongers, those who constantly shouted for the country, were nothing more than a bunch of bastard high-ranking officials who wanted to profit from the war.
Ordinary people, what they really want is not glory, but a safe and stable life.
Noxians warlike?
They simply couldn't get enough to eat and had to fight to obtain food.
"Why?" Swain, his expression unchanged.
"Don't play dumb." Li Ke narrowed his eyes and continued, "If Mordekaiser really returns to Runeterra, the first thing he'll do isn't to kill LeBlanc, who orchestrated his sealing, but Noxus."
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"Or, would you hand Noxus over to him? And then he could smash the entire Noxus to pieces with a single blow, and all the Noxians could become his power in the underworld?" Li Ke added.
If Mordekaiser comes out, the first person he'll smash won't be LeBlanc.
I've mentioned it many times: LeBlanc is very smart and capable, but for some reason, her plans often fail. Even if they don't fail, they inexplicably create a bunch of enemies for her.
This is why netizens call her the "silly beauty".
He stirred up a lot of trouble, creating a bunch of mortal enemies; his contrasting traits are truly off the charts.
The same applies to Mordekaiser. At first glance, it seems like LeBlanc succeeded in sealing Mordekaiser, but in reality, Mordekaiser was deliberately sent inside by LeBlanc.
Perhaps LeBlanc knew about this, but given the circumstances, she had no choice but to play along. However, the result was that Mordekaiser's power grew stronger and stronger, and he has now become the master of the underworld.
When he returns, he might not necessarily go after LeBlanc first; instead, he'll kill everyone in Noxus and turn them all into undead under his hammer, subject to his control.
"No." Swain shook his head.
Li Ke looked at Swain and smiled, then continued, "Right? So you, me, LeBlanc, we can definitely cooperate. Didn't you want to capture LeBlanc and force her to cooperate with you to stabilize Noxus's situation? I think we can start with Mordekaiser. I can freely travel between the two worlds."
As you've seen, LeBlanc invited me to join her; she needs my strength. Since that's the case, you take the lead, and I'll go and invite her to form an alliance Noxus and the Twin Cities. What do you think?"
Li Ke spoke at length in one breath.
Lost in his conversation, he failed to notice the flicker of doubt in Swain's eyes.
"Did you gain the ability to foresee the future in that world?" Swain asked, a hint of apprehension in his eyes.
His grasp of the overall situation stemmed largely from his own wisdom.
Raum's ability cannot predict the future; it only allows Swain to understand and learn about many people and secrets, from which Swain will deduce the possibilities of the "future."
For example, a person's habits, personality, and the environment around them will change their future.
Swain was strategically planning and prepared for the future, but compared to predicting the future, his plans seemed insignificant.
"Huh? No, why would you ask that?" Li Ke shook his head, looking puzzled.
Swain asked, puzzled, "Then how did you guess what I was thinking?"
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I've said too much already, it's all bad.
But lying to a smart guy like Swain is pointless; the best approach is to resort to witty banter!
Li Ke immediately said, "None of that matters. The important thing is, Swain, what do you think of my idea?"
Swain stroked his chin, remaining silent.
Silco cleared his throat and said from the side, "Partnering with Zaun and Piltover can bring about change for Noxus."
Mel chimed in, saying, "Noxus needs food, but Zaun doesn't lack it. The ocean is teeming with food; Noxus can simply exchange it for manpower and minerals."
"Swain, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn't he?"
Swain broke his silence and said in a cool tone, "Alright, then you'll be in charge of inviting LeBlanc. LeBlanc's people will definitely contact you multiple times, so I'll leave this matter to you."
"If LeBlanc agrees, then Noxus will become an ally of the Twin Cities in the future, exchanging necessary resources with Twin Cities."
"Um, Swain, may I make a request in advance?"
"Please speak."
"How about you teach me the forging technology for rune steel?"
Hearing Li Ke's words, Swain smiled and said softly, "How about you trade me Hextech?"
"Never mind then." Li Ke immediately shook his head.
Rune Steel is indeed powerful, but compared to Hextech in the Twin Cities, Runecraft might be stronger at the moment, but in the future, Jayce's Hextech will definitely be more powerful.
In terms of potential limits, Heimerdinger's research on the T-Hex is enough to prove this point!
"Heh, if you're not willing to trade Hextech, there are other ways," Swain said, changing the subject.
Runecrafting is indeed powerful, but Swain understands one thing: as the number of talented people in Twin Cities increases, their control over runes will also become more and more powerful. Hextech itself is a variant of runecrafting, and even if Noxus doesn't give the rune forging method to Twin Cities, the people of Twin Cities will be able to master this technology in the future.
Therefore, it's better to use it to gain a favor.
However, Swain certainly wouldn't let himself be taken advantage of.
"What?" Li Ke asked Swain.
Swain pulled a map from under the table, and everyone stood up and walked over.
Looking at the map, Silco said, "This is... Freljord?"
"Li Ke, one of the guys in my plan is trapped in Freljord. His name is Darius, and he's a crucial part of my plan—no, now he's a crucial part of our plan. So, go and rescue Darius from the Northerners. After you succeed, I will teach you runecraft." Swain looked at Li Ke and said.
Li Ke: "?"
I saved a human-headed dog?!