"This way!"
"Hey! My Demacia friends, look this way, we need your help!"
"Yes, yes, quick, quickly make room for the Dauntless Vanguard! They're strong, it's best to let them move these things!"
"We need some agile and strong men to go down into the eastern cave! General Rodman, can you send any more men over?"
"Send people? Go to hell! What kind of men could I possibly send you?! Commander Swain only sent this few men from our Leiser garrison, and they've already been deployed to help out at the southern port. How am I supposed to send anyone to you?"
The streets of Zaun were bustling with noise and chaos. At this moment, you could see Demacia, Ionia, Freljord, Shurima, Zaunite, Piltover, and even some Vastaya.
People from different regions, with different faiths and cultures, and even different races, are coming together.
Most of the men were shirtless, their upper bodies soaked with sweat, while the women wore protective clothing and pushed small carts loaded with tools, food, and water, walking along paths specially marked out by law enforcement officers.
Meanwhile, at the port of Zaun, between the two gorges, Professor Heimerdinger, the designer in charge of this project, was standing on tiptoe on a steam engine.
Wearing specially made little leather boots and a yellow trench coat, with a large pair of goggles hanging on his fluffy head, Professor Heimerdinger's little hands were clasped together as he stared anxiously ahead, and he spoke in a shrill voice:
"Hey everyone, don't rush! We can slow down a bit, that's okay, as long as we don't make any mistakes in the end! More than speed, I hope you can focus on quality!"
"Did you understand? Slow down, slow down!"
As Heimerdinger was shouting through a megaphone, a man carrying a heavy object walked past him. Seeing the man's rough handling, Heimerdinger's Big Eyes contracted, and he yelled, "My God, didn't you hear me? Slow down! This box you're carrying contains fragile items! What if it breaks?!"
The man being scathingly accused by Heimerdinger was about two meters tall, broad-shouldered and muscular, with muscles that looked even larger than Jayce's. He was easily lifting a box that was half a meter wide and one and a half meters long, looking at Heimerdinger with an embarrassed expression.
His name is Chris, he is a Demacia, and he belongs to the 13th Company of the Dauntless Vanguard. He is the sword captain of the 7th Shield Formation in the company.
The most elite force in Demacia, the Dauntless Vanguard, is a household name in Valoran. It consists of 16 companies, each of which is divided into 8 shield formations, each with 8 men. The total number of men in the legion is 2048.
Some might ask, "Wait, what can an eight-person shield formation do?"
Noxus people operate in companies, with each company consisting of one or two hundred people, and even then, Noxus still considers their numbers insufficient.
But this is the Dauntless Vanguard, a shield formation of eight men, enough to withstand a thousand troops.
For example, the Dauntless Vanguard once held a bridge with three shield walls, resisting Noxus army of thousands. During this time, the Dauntless Vanguard not only defended the bridge, but also launched several counterattacks!
And now, this incredibly powerful and capable individual is looking at Heimerdinger with an embarrassed expression.
"I understand, sorry, I'll be more careful," Chris said softly.
"You'd better be careful!" Heimerdinger glared, then said, "The stuff in here is extremely valuable! It will take a whole week to process these Hextech Gem!"
Chris was distressed, but could only nod and say he understood.
I swear to God!
He wouldn't even blink if you asked him to fight, kill, or go to the battlefield, but he wouldn't do hard labor?
He's Dauntless Vanguard, and a sword captain!
But, thinking about the money Twin Cities offered, Chris ultimately held back.
The money he earned working here for three days was equivalent to his monthly salary. He had his eye on a record player sold in a music store in Piltover, a device that required him to work for five days and could only be bought in Piltover.
Fine, for the sake of money and the record player, Chris chose to endure it.
He carefully carried the box past Heimerdinger, making sure there was no further movement from inside.
Heimerdinger, however, looked in another direction.
As for why the professor is here, it's because--
If we were to name the most learned person in the two cities, it would undoubtedly be Heimerdinger.
As a Bandle whose lifespan is unpredictable, Heimerdinger has lived in Runeterra for nearly a thousand years.
During this time, he witnessed the Rune Wars and personally participated in the establishment of the two cities, earning him the title of Father of Piltover. While the word "science" was certainly not coined by Heimerdinger, it is entirely fair to say that he Heimerdinger and popularized it.
Coupled with his super memory thanks to his large head, Heimerdinger was practically a walking human library.
His mind was filled with all sorts of knowledge—mechanics, architecture—basically anything that was "knowledge," Heimerdinger would absorb it all with all his might.
For this reason, Science Poppy was appointed as the chief engineer of this land reclamation project, using his big brain to come up with the best land reclamation methods for the two cities, and was also in charge of the relocation of Zaun.
The earth beneath Zaun has been riddled with holes by the Xer'Sai. The only reason it hasn't collapsed yet is because the Xer'Sai are incredibly skilled at digging tunnels.
However, as Zaun continues to develop, the construction and engineering projects that follow will inevitably disrupt the existing balance, affecting the land's load-bearing capacity and soil erosion.
Therefore, moving is indeed an urgent matter.
"Just two more hours of work, then it'll be afternoon tea time, then we'll switch shifts and rest!"
In the crowd, Malson put his hands in front of him and shouted loudly into the crowd.
People in both the upper and lower city are very busy these days!
Piltover Conference Building --
Congressman Kiramman held the land reclamation plans in his hand, staring at the pillars on them, and subconsciously swallowed.
"How much will this cost?"
She looked at Mel, who was standing beside her, with trembling hands, and asked softly.
Mel looked at Councilor Kiramman with amusement, thought for a moment, and then said, "Perhaps... even the combined wealth of the major families in Piltover wouldn't be enough?"
"This is already a new design approach after cost-saving measures, you know? The professor's initial design principle was to build a cofferdam first."
"Wait, what is a cofferdam?" Congressman Kiramman blinked and asked Mel.
Mel explained, "It involves first dredging out the silt from the sea, then filling the sea with sand and gravel, and piling it up to serve as a foundation to avoid the influence of waves. After all, you can never predict the weather."
Kiramman didn't really understand this kind of knowledge, but she had an extremely keen sense for money; she immediately realized how much financial, material, and human resources that would require. No, how much trouble would that be?
Representative Kiramman's expression froze, which amused Mel even more. She waved her hand and said with a smile, "But now we don't need to use such time-consuming and laborious methods anymore."
Mel took the drawings and laid them flat on the table.
Hoskall, who was standing next to him with a large belly, also looked at the blueprints curiously.
"Right now, we're relying on Li Ke and the Goddess Janna to calm the sea waves with magic, so all we need to do is fill the area with sand to create land."
"Councilor Mel, how can you call something like this 'as long as'?" Hoskall said, his lips twitching.
Damn it, can this be called "just"?
Even so, the amount of money required is an astronomical pitfall!
This is only possible with Twin Cities; if it were any other city-state, it would be a miracle if they could do something like this! No, they wouldn't even dare to think about it, let alone do it!
Ask the Demacia, they've never even considered filling in the sea, let alone building a mountain road or a tunnel!
Two years ago, Piltover had already built an iron mine in the mountains to transport minerals, using trains and digging a tunnel that was several kilometers long.
Even so, isn't land reclamation still a bit strange?
Aren't land and sea naturally occurring? Are they things that human beings can change?
After careful consideration, Representative Hoskall concluded that the idea was inherently suspicious!
What sane person would think of reclaiming land from the sea to create a new continent? Especially one that spans two states, connecting Valoran and Shurima!
"I understand what you mean, Representative Hoskall, but as things stand, this is not impossible. As for the financial burden, it will be shared by both cities. As for the manpower, we already have help from all over the world, don't we?" Mel said to Representative Hoskall.
Hoskall paused for a moment, then nodded. He was just making a comment; as for opposing it, as a businessman, Hoskall understood all too well the benefits this would bring to the two cities.
With the successful reclamation and the construction of the New Zaun, the number of trade routes that can be opened up will only increase, and Piltover will certainly be able to profit from it, since the two cities are now indeed one.
"Alright, just let me know if you need our help," he said to Mel.
The old cake maker, after thinking for a moment, asked, "What about the timeframe? Did Li Ke say when it would be finished?"
"It seems we only need three months," Mel said.
"The project has only just begun, and we're already..." Mel was interrupted halfway through his sentence.
Because both members of parliament in front of him were shocked.
"Three months? Just three months?" Hoskall asked in astonishment.
The work he's been handling these past few days has nothing to do with land reclamation. After all, while land reclamation is important, and the construction of the New Zaun is the top priority for both cities, it doesn't mean that other matters can be put aside.
Twin Cities is now a large city-state with too many things to handle every day. It's impossible for Li Ke to borrow all the councilors, is it?
Mel nodded, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.
If Mel hadn't witnessed firsthand how the Shurima girl effortlessly drew up massive amounts of sand and silt from the seabed, Mel wouldn't have believed it either.
It's not Valoran or Ixtal that's being filled, but Shurima, a sea area hundreds of kilometers long. Who would believe it if they heard it could be completed in three months?
But that's the reality: when magic and technology are combined, the things that can be done are beyond everyone's imagination.
Now, let's turn our attention to the sea between Valoran and Shurima—
At this very moment, a warship a hundred meters long was sailing on the sea, and on the deck, a girl wearing short sleeves and trousers was waving her hands in the sunlight.
Sweat streamed down her cheeks, her flushed face making her freckles even more noticeable. Her brown hair was damp, with a little steam rising from it, and her waving hands felt slightly sore.
As Taliyah expended her magical energy, dozens of enormous, dark brown sea columns rose from the sea on the left side of the warship, in front of Taliyah.
As the sea column moved, it carried away a large amount of quicksand and silt from the seabed, which piled up and flew to the side, onto a translucent, greenish wind bridge, and then flowed towards the shore several kilometers away.
The scene was truly magical. At that moment, the island on the shore was filled with people, the most conspicuous of whom was a group of tall, resolute-looking men. These men were all of similar height and wore black bodysuits with a blue wing pattern printed on them.
They were Dauntless Vanguard, their faces a mixture of emotions—reflection, helplessness, and shock.
Unexpectedly, these people, famous for their anti-magic abilities and their ability to fight against mages, would one day cooperate with mages to carry out construction together.
"Here we go again!"
After shouting, the Dauntless Vanguard on the shore made way. A large amount of silt and quicksand piled up, and they quickly grabbed a steel pipe from the side. The other end of the pipe was connected to a bunch of special, huge tanks in Twin Cities, which were specifically designed to suck up silt.
With their arms straining, the three of them together supported a steel pipe, silently carrying it to facilitate the machine's absorption of the sludge.
Also, there are Dauntless Vanguard warriors who will quickly lift and throw out some large rocks that have been attracted to the mud. Those rocks are very useful; they will be used for land reclamation later.
"I never expected it to be Captain Jian's sister."
This work would be very strenuous and arduous for others, after all, the metal pipes alone weigh hundreds of kilograms, but for the Dauntless Vanguard warriors, it was not strenuous at all.
Let alone three people, if the pipe weren't so long that it required three people to maintain its balance, they could have solved it all by themselves.
It's just something weighing a thousand pounds, isn't it?
You should know that one of their training exercises involved moving massive stone sculptures, dozens of meters tall, hundreds of meters. So for them, it was practically like a vacation.
Inevitably, they'll start chatting.
"Stop talking nonsense!" another Dauntless Vanguard soldier glared and said.
"Well, let's all pretend we didn't see it."
"How could you not see that? The light emanating from Luxanna is even more dazzling than the sun," a muttered complaint rang out.
From here, several kilometers away, they could see the light emanating from the warship, a light even more dazzling than the sun, emitted by Lux.
Taliyah is indeed a magical genius, with Runeterra mastery of earth magic in Runeterra; however, her magical power is also limited.
Lux is currently acting as Taliyah's energy bank, replenishing Taliyah 'Taliyah mana whenever Lux's nearly depleted.
The port was bustling, the sea was bustling, and outside the city-state, in other places, such as the jungles and mountains of Valoran, people from both cities were also busy at work.
After all, land reclamation requires a large amount of sand and gravel, and those materials need to be transported from elsewhere.
Similarly, the city is currently extremely busy.
Zaun's Councilwoman Marna is very busy right now. As the "good cop" of the Zaun administration, she is currently doing ideological work with the Zaunite.
Even during Zaun's most difficult times, under oppression from the Piltover people, the Zaunite never left Zaun. But now that things are better, the Zaunite are being forced to move away to... some New Zaun?
Of course they would object!
Right now, in the Black Alley of Zaun, Marna, protected by Vi and her team of enforcers, is using a megaphone to persuade most Zaunite to move away. After all, they know who is responsible for Zaun's current prosperity and the good life they enjoy today.
They will listen to what Lord Li Ke says; Lord Li Ke will not harm them.
However, there are still some stubborn minorities who believe that moving away from Zaun means abandoning Zaun.
Therefore, this group of people became the targets of Marna's ideological work.
At that moment, Li Ke stood on the high-rise building, watching this scene from afar.
A little bluebird was nestled on his shoulder.
"Li Ke, are you sure this is the right thing to do?"
Janna tilted her head and asked Li Ke.
As the Deity of the Zaunite, she has recently received a lot of bewilderment, with many Zaunite having a significant shadow over the land reclamation and relocation efforts.
This is because the massive explosion three hundred years ago still casts a shadow over many Zaunite. As the goddess involved in that explosion, Janna is well aware of the devastation it brought to the Zaunite.
Now, Li Ke is doing something even more dangerous and outrageous.
"Correct. Incorrect, I'm not sure either, Janna." Li Ke thought for a moment, then shook his head and said.
Before the letter of protest was handed to him, Li Ke naturally believed that he had done the right thing.
Land reclamation is inevitable; Zaun needs new land to develop in the future. Even without the incident of Xer'Sai digging through Zaun, it's time for Zaun to emerge from the shadows.
Although the western part of Piltover has undergone extensive renovations, with many high-rise buildings replaced by commercial districts and bungalows, Zaun, situated in an underground the Rift almost level with the sea, will never be a good place to live.
However, it happened too fast. They didn't do much ideological work with the Zaunite before implementing the reforms, which naturally drew protests from some people.
To put it bluntly, the current Zaun is ignoring the voices of some people and forcibly carrying out a major reform.
Seeing that Li Ke was also unsure, Janna blinked but said nothing.
But Li Ke spoke up again:
"But Janna, this is something we must do, not now, but in the future."
Janna looked at Li Ke again, and saw Li Ke take a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.
"Of course I heard the dissenting voices, but more than their opposition, what I want is for the Children of Zaun to truly have sunlight and more space to move around in the future, instead of living in this narrow space between the two canyons, using sunlight borrowed from Piltover."
Li Ke spoke earnestly, as if he were speaking to Janna, but also as if he were speaking to himself.
Yes, he heard those dissenting voices as well.
He also knew that what he was doing was too authoritarian.
But so what?
Ten years ago, Zaunite still needed to wear respirators to live, as smog could take their lives at any moment. When the first air purifier appeared in the Black Alley, many people were unwilling to take off their respirators, unwilling to believe that the purifier could clean up the smog and give them clean air. But now, look around Zaun, does anyone still live with a respirator?
Moreover, if there are no opponents or resistance to reform, can it still be called reform?
As times change, it's inevitable that old ideas, attitudes, and behaviors will be broken down.
As for whether those people will still object at that time...
"I want the seeds of our Zaun's future to grow towards the sun," Li Ke said.
Right and wrong
Time will tell.