Yuan Chen's Arrangements

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Ezreal's eyes lit up.

Although Ezreal would rather find his parents than gain the ability to warp, adventure is his passion, and becoming the greatest explorer of all time is his dream.

In this situation, located in a perilous ancient tomb, the ability to teleport would undoubtedly be of great help.

"Which two methods?" Ezreal asked curiously.

"One option is to wait until we've completed our Shurima, or to contact Ne'Zuk in advance and communicate with him so that Ne'Zuk can directly create an arcane crystal for you."

Yuan Chen said, "There's no doubt about it. Although this kind of secret crystal is precious, and even the manufacturing technique has been lost, Ne'Zuk's technology can even allow a floating fortress the size of a city to teleport."

Upon hearing this, Ezreal's eyes flashed with a hint of contemplation, but he then said somewhat reluctantly, "This... is too unstable. Besides, Ne'Zuk is historically known as a tyrant..."

"What about the other one?"

"Primal Hex Crystal."

"... Are you kidding me?" After a brief silence, Ezreal rubbed his hair and said with a look of despair, "Primal Hex Crystal, even if I sold all my antiques, I probably wouldn't get even 0.1 carats."

Piltover is known as the City of Progress because of the many technologies developed based on Hex Crystal, a stable and solidified magical energy cell.

Although Hex Crystal has at least two words in its name compared to original Hex Crystal, and is man-made, this does not mean that the two can be compared.

Simply put, Hex Crystal are batteries. But the original Hex Crystal involve metaphysics—or rather, a deeper level of science.

Immortality, time, space... In the old version of the lore, the Primal Hex Crystal was the core of the Shell People. However, in Ixialia, Yuan Chen had already confirmed that Skarner had become the latest version of the Elemental Sacred Beast.

This means that the Primal Hex Crystal is no longer related to the Shell People... Under these circumstances, there are many speculations about the Primal Hex Crystal Yuan Chen, but without a physical object, they can only be speculations.

But whatever the speculation, one thing is certain—Primal Hex Crystal are extremely precious. Even in the entire Piltover, only the top families possess a few of them.

While Ezreal is somewhat famous, this is limited to the archaeological community. For these powerful families, the sole purpose of archaeology is to find more lost ancient technologies.

In other words, even if Ezreal sold all his possessions or even went to Zaun to sell his ass, those powerful families would not give him even a scrap of bread.

"In that case, there's another, less certain possibility."

"... Just tell me directly, I feel like you're just teasing me."

Ezreal's face was full of resentment. In response, Yuan Chen simply asked, "Zaun? Have you been there?"

"Of course I've been there," Ezreal said. "I've explored Zaun hundreds of times before I even went to Shurima!"

It's impossible to brag hundreds of times, but it must have happened dozens of times.

Without getting bogged down in the number of attempts, Yuan Chen simply said, "Go to Zaun and find a guy named Ekko. He should have a device called 'Z-Drive,' a weapon made with a shard of the original Hex Crystal as its engine core."

Upon hearing that Yuan Chen actually had information about the Primal Hex Crystal, Ezreal's face showed a hint of surprise. "Really? But... how did he get it? I've never heard of Chem-Baron named Ekko."

"He's probably still a Zaun kid... Put away your suspicion, even if he's a thug, he's a highly talented one," Yuan Chen said.

"You can try to make contact with him. There's no need to try to steal it; you're no match for him. But if he's willing, a small energy device storing a portion of the 'Z-Drive' output energy will be enough for you to perform a jump for a period of time."

"That doesn't sound easy..."

Ezreal said with a slight headache, "I don't have much experience communicating with people in the underworld... but I'll try for the warp drive."

"That's enough." Yuan Chen nodded, then said:

"Oh, by the way, there are two things I need you to do for me."

"What is it?" Ezreal's gaze was wary, for he truly couldn't see through Yuan Chen —was he really a prophet? Why did he know so much about Zaun and Piltover?

"Ask Ekko if he's seen his future self."

"Future?"

"Hmm," Yuan Chen said, "You don't need to delve too deeply... This will benefit you. If you're lucky enough, you might even awaken a hidden class that's at least epic-level."

"Uh... alright then, I won't ask anymore." Hearing this, Ezreal asked again, "What about the other thing?"

"Still in Zaun, but in the deepest sewers. Help me find something... or find some information."

"What is it?"

"It's news," Yuan Chen said.

"Zaun's sewers are a complex web, and the sewer workers have all sorts of gossip and legends circulating among them... Talk to them more and remember those dangerous areas that are mentioned by word of mouth."

Hearing this, Ezreal was puzzled, but he kept it in mind. His thoughts were preoccupied with finding his parents, regaining his teleportation ability, and what he might be able to obtain—at least an epic-level hidden class!

Of these ideas, simply identifying any dangerous areas in Zaun's sewers that are off-limits is rather unappealing.

After all, he had already ventured into Zaun several times.

"Then... shall we part ways here?"

"Okay, goodbye, we'll meet again in Piltover."

Despite being filled with questions, Ezreal followed Yuan Chen and the others out of the tomb after hearing Yuan Chen's words.

Upon hearing the result, Ezreal couldn't help but swallow hard.

When I returned, the area around the tomb was still desolate, overgrown with weeds, and there was not a trace of human habitation.

And now? He doesn't even know what happened. The once overgrown woodland has been cleared into a large, flat clearing. In this clearing, hundreds of soldiers dressed in dark green Silk Material robes stand like statues.

Ezreal had no doubt that Yuan Chen only needed to give the order to have him chopped into mincemeat.

"You should thank me," Yuan Chen said nonchalantly as he slowly emerged from the dark tomb.

"If you actually jump out directly, the Road Protector will chop you into mincemeat before you can recharge for your next jump."

"Ha... ha," Ezreal chuckled awkwardly, managing to say, "I... actually, even without my warp drive, I'm still pretty skilled."

"Are you sure? The Road Protector are all elemental mages of the third ring or higher."

In Runeterra, mages are typically ranked using "rings," ranging from first to sixth ring. Above sixth ring is the Grandmaster.

A third-ring elemental mage would be treated with respect in any country—except Demacia.

Upon hearing that all the hundreds of people in front of him were high-ranking mages of the third rank or higher, Ezreal's lips twitched slightly.

What are you trying to do? A few hundred third-ring mages are enough to conquer a small country, right?

"We have other things to take care of, so we won't see you off. Have a safe trip!"

"Ha, ha... Okay, goodbye."

Ezreal stiffened slightly and fled as if escaping—he even breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that his jump had been interrupted.

Otherwise...

Tsk, those ring-shaped Spellcasting mediums in their hands look pretty sharp.

As she watched the blond-haired guy leave, Qiyana let out a cold snort— Qiyana didn't like this frivolous person.

Do you value him highly?

"I wouldn't say I value him highly, but he does have some potential." Yuan Chen squinted at the blond-haired boy's disappearing figure into the jungle, then turned his gaze to Qiyana beside him, a slight smile appearing on his lips:

"You really hate him?"

"It's less about dislike and more about disgust," Qiyana said, pointing a finger with some displeasure.

"Pretentious, frivolous... He's not humble enough in front of the noble Qiyana! He exudes the air of a nouveau riche. I really don't know what you value in him. Shouldn't a composed person dislike this kind of guy?"

"Me, composed?" Upon hearing Qiyana's words, Yuan Chen raised an eyebrow with a strange expression, then said in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"As for humility and composure... I wouldn't call myself that, would I?"

"You are different, you are special."

Qiyana blatantly demonstrated what it means to have noble double standards and undisguised bias.

Feeling Qiyana's attitude and way of expressing herself, which were almost completely opposite to her initial ones, it would be impossible for Yuan Chen not to feel a little flutter in his heart. But in the end, Yuan Chen just nodded and didn't say anything more.

After a moment of silence, Qiyana said bluntly, "Speaking of which, what did you ask that blondie to find?"

Aren't you curious about his Epic Class?

"No, my intuition tells me that what you asked him to find is the most important thing."

Upon hearing Qiyana's words, Yuan Chen, while marveling at the girl's intuition, nodded and said:

"A harp, buried deep underground in Zaun... well, at least it was deep underground when it was buried, but with Zaun's expansion, it should now be not far from the sewers."

"A harp? Is there anything special about it?" Qiyana asked, puzzled.

As for harps, she could find as many as Yuan Chen wanted. Besides, she had never heard Yuan Chen having any interest in music.

"A harp born before the Rune Wars, sealing away the Dark Descendant."