The Taiwan Server System in the League

And the warmth where our skin touched... it felt exceptionally comfortable in the cool, early winter night.

The feeling of sharing a bed with the young girl was truly pleasant...

"If you find it comfortable, how about sleeping with this concubine every night from now on~?" Ahri swayed her upper body happily, her nine tails twitching unconsciously. "This concubine finds it very comfortable too~"

"I have no objections." Chen Ce nodded with a smile—he knew she certainly hadn't recovered as quickly as she appeared; the Imero Stone had caused her a certain kind of "harm," and her heart was still quite unsettled at this moment.

She needed someone she could trust by her side—much like a pack of foxes huddling together for warmth on the ice fields.

"Thank you~!" Ahri hugged him happily, her nine fox tails subconsciously wrapping around them both again.

She was practically like a spider.

Chen Ce felt a bit helpless, but he didn't push her away. "How are you recovering now?"

"Hmm... better, but I still feel a bit uncomfortable." Ahri knew the intent behind his question. "Can you give this concubine two more days to rest? We'll set off and continue our journey immediately after two days!"

"Mm, no problem." Since it was only two days, Chen Ce wasn't in a rush; he could use this time to visit the Underground Fighting Pit and Lady Dadana to see if there were any loose ends to tie up.

Thinking this, he prepared to get up, wash, and start his day's work.

But just as he tried to get out of bed, he suddenly discovered that the nine fox tails were wrapped unexpectedly tight—they even moved in rhythm with him; the more he tried to shift toward the edge of the bed, the tighter they coiled.

Then, he felt Ahri's warm breath.

"Since we're resting, you should hurry up and rest with this concubine~!"

Thump.

Chen Ce's upper body, which hadn't been propped up for long, was tackled back down by the fox girl.

Immediately after, the fox tails enveloped him and Ahri like a quilt—the exact same posture as last night.

"Come sleep with this concubine~~"

Irelia hadn't seen Chen Ce for a long time.

She missed him dearly, and she felt certain he must be missing her as well.

She imagined that at this very moment, Chen Ce must be holding the badge she had gifted him, secretly longing for her and reminiscing about their sweet memories together.

Just like her—at this moment, she was also gently stroking something Chen Ce had sent.

A letter.

She had already read it many, many times.

On one hand, it was out of longing; on the other... the intelligence in this letter was extremely important.

Ever since she received this letter two days ago, she had been repeatedly pondering the information within it.

The private words Chen Ce had written to her went without saying—she had read them over and over, feeling a warmth in her heart each time, imagining what Chen Ce looked like as he wrote those lines. She was overjoyed.

As for the intelligence content... that gave her a bit of a headache.

[The Noxian Legion is about to dispatch a warband to land at the Reef Strait south of Wuju, carrying the kind of Zaunite alchemical weapons we saw at Dragonspine Canyon.]

But fortunately, the latter half of the letter also contained a solution from Chen Ce.

[...But there is no need to worry too much. I have arrived at a small town south of Wuju and have assembled a decent armed force here. They are all gladiators who have lived in this vicinity since childhood and are very familiar with the geography of the Reef Strait.]

[We have learned of the Noxian movements in advance. If you can dispatch some troops from the Resistance Army to coordinate with the "Gladiator Legion" I have formed here, I believe we can crush the enemy with minimal cost, prevent that Noxian warband from landing, and destroy their alchemical weapons.]

Regarding Chen Ce's plan, Irelia's first reaction was surprise—she hadn't expected him to be able to assemble a local armed force in such a short time.

If anyone else had seen this letter, they would surely think it was exaggerated, but she chose to believe—she knew Chen Ce's character.

After the surprise, her second reaction was delight—she knew Chen Ce was capable, but she hadn't expected him to have such charisma.

As for her third reaction... she naturally chose to support Chen Ce.

Whether from the perspective of a Resistance Army leader or from a personal standpoint, she felt this plan was highly feasible.

To this end, she had already ordered the mobilization of a significant number of regular Resistance soldiers and several elite squads to the address Chen Ce had provided.

"Chen Ce..."

Irelia, whose break time had just ended, reluctantly put away the letter and prepared to throw herself back into work.

But just then, a Resistance soldier rushed into the tent in a panic.

"Report, Leader! A request for reinforcements has arrived from the Resistance camp at the Placidium Plains!"

"The Placidium Plains?" Hearing this name, Irelia's heart trembled.

That was her hometown.

The Xan House that raised her was located there.

"According to the local Resistance at the Placidium Plains, scattered Noxian forces are gathering and heading toward the Placidium Plains at full speed! Local scouts have already engaged them in direct combat!" the soldier continued.

"How is the situation?" Irelia asked.

"Currently routed! The Noxian Legion used a new type of chemical weapon, leaving the frontline scouts in complete disarray!"

"Chemical weapons?" Irelia was stunned again.

Others might not know much about this, but she knew it all too well...

"Who is leading that Noxian Legion?"

"According to the scouts, it should be Emystan!" the soldier replied. "She has gathered all the forces around the Placidium Plains; it seems she intends to annex the entire region in one fell swoop!"

Hearing this, Irelia's expression darkened.

Emystan again, and alchemical weapons again...

The Placidium Plains are located deep within Ionia; even if she managed to conquer them, they would be difficult to hold. Furthermore, there is nothing there to entice the Noxians, so why would she go to such great lengths to attack that place?

She even went out of her way to use alchemical weapons... Those things should be incredibly precious to her.

Ever since their encounter at Dragonspine Canyon, reinforcements have been sent to every strait. Emystan shouldn't have any other way to obtain more alchemical weapons... This batch is highly likely the last she has within Ionia.

Could it be...

Irelia happened to glance at the letter on the table—the one regarding the intelligence intercepted by Chen Ce.

In an instant, she had a new theory: Emystan wanted to play a game of "luring the tiger away from the mountain."

She might be trying to draw the Windswordsman, the only one capable of countering the alchemical weapons, to the Placidium Plains. That way, she wouldn't need to consider whether attacking the plains was worth it or if they could be held; her true goal was likely to seize the opportunity to attack the Placidium while the Windswordsman was rushing toward the plains.

As for what she intended to use to attack the Placidium...

The Noxian battle group about to land at the Reef Strait—the very group Chen Ce mentioned would be carrying alchemical weapons.

This also explained why that battle group wasn't landing at Fae'lor Island, which the Noxians had already captured, but was instead going out of its way to land in the south of Wuju.

Thinking of this, a cunning arc curled at the corner of Irelia's mouth.

Tit for tat.

Only children make multiple-choice questions; she wanted both the Placidium Plains and the Reef Strait.

"Pass on my order: send an additional three hundred troops to the force previously dispatched to the south of Wuju!"

"Continue to strengthen the defense of the western coastline, using Fae'lor Island as the marker!"

"Immediately assemble reinforcements to head to the Placidium Plains, led by the Windswordsman, Yasuo!"

Chapter 54: Is This How You Test the Resistance Army?

To wait for Ahri to recover, Chen Ce stayed in the town for several more days.

These past few days could be described as... quite "lethargic."

Ahri's mental state was poor, and she needed a large amount of time to sleep and recover every day, so she spent her time eating and sleeping. Originally, this wouldn't have been an issue, but she insisted on...

Having Chen Ce sleep with her.

It was that peculiar posture where she wrapped them both in her fox tails—she said it made her feel safe, like a pack of foxes huddling together for warmth in the ice fields.

There was no helping it; Chen Ce had to force himself to sleep even when he wasn't tired. Honestly, it was fine when he was drowsy, but when he wasn't, having such a beautiful fox-girl lying beside him, with so many parts of their bodies pressed together, would likely make it impossible for any man with normal physiological functions to fall asleep.

It was nothing short of torture.

For several whole days, Chen Ce waited and hoped, finally seeing Ahri fully recovered.

But just as he was preparing to set off and continue his journey, the reinforcements he had written to Irelia to request arrived.

He originally hadn't intended to command the battle himself, planning to leave immediately—after all, the situation had been made very clear in the letter, and they only needed to find Sett to perfectly prevent that Noxian battle group from landing as planned.

But now that the people were here, there was no need for him to force a departure. He hadn't intended to command personally just to save the time spent waiting over the past few days, but now that Ahri had dragged things out, there was no time to save, so he naturally wasn't in a rush to leave that night.

Taking the field himself wouldn't result in any brilliant tactical displays, but at least he could use his superior combat prowess to end the battle as easily as possible.

Since things had come to this, he would help where he could.

"Ahri, from now on you can drink my Corrupting Potion as you please, on the condition that... you come with me to fight a battle."

"Oh?" Ahri blinked in confusion, the fox ears atop her head perking up.

Late at night, southern Wuju, the Reef Strait.

Several Noxian warships were advancing at full speed toward the continent under the cover of night. Their presence was significant, as if they hadn't specifically chosen the dead of night to land, but had simply arrived at that time.

In other words, they didn't really need the darkness as a shield; it was just a formality.

Because they knew there were almost no Resistance Army troops stationed here—this area already had a large number of Noxians.

There was an Underground Fighting Pit here, the largest in all of Ionia, which gathered quite a few Noxians. It was considered the only "no-man's-land" in the war between the two countries.

The Ionians didn't bother with this place, and the Noxians didn't attack it, as if they had agreed in advance to leave a piece of territory for the wealthy and elite of both nations to enjoy entertainment even during wartime.

The commander looked at the deserted shore, then turned to look at the hold full of amphorae, feeling somewhat puzzled.

The purpose of his mission was to deliver these amphorae to Emystan in the combat zone, but he had no idea what was inside them.

That was classified information from above.

"It looks almost like some kind of unique secret weapon..."

The commander chuckled mockingly while smoking his cigar, then shifted his gaze back to the shore.

The warships were getting closer and closer to the coast.

The only trouble now was that the name "Reef Strait" wasn't given lightly—the closer they got to the shore, the more reefs there were beneath the water.

They had to slow down as they approached the coast, remaining vigilant at all times to ensure nothing went wrong at this final stage.

It would be laughable if a ship were to sink by crashing into a reef despite having no enemies to block its path.

"Slow down!" the commander ordered loudly, while simultaneously grabbing his gear to prepare for disembarkation.

But just then, he suddenly noticed someone standing on the shore—dressed in black, making them difficult to spot from a distance.

As the warship drew closer, the other Noxus soldiers also spotted the man.

Before the Noxus soldiers could interrogate him, the man shouted first: "I am a gladiator from the Underground Fighting Pit! My boss sent me to guide you to the dock! My boss is the bodyguard of Commander Emystan, Sett!"

Hearing this, the commander relaxed slightly—the primary shareholders of the Fighting Pit were Noxians, and these gladiators were practically their own people.

Furthermore, his mission was ordered by Commander Emystan herself, a secret known only to him and her.

However... even so, he could not easily trust a stranger—especially an Ionian encountered while on a secret mission.

"We don't need your guidance! Stand where you are!"

"..." The gladiator on the shore fell silent for a moment.

Then, he turned his head and spoke to the darkness behind him: "It seems these Noxians aren't so easy to fool."

The next moment, the previously pitch-black coast suddenly lit up—countless torches flared to life simultaneously.

A large group of burly men holding torches emerged from every corner; among them were humans and Vastaya, varying in height, build, and attire, but they all shared one thing in common—

They all had murder in their eyes.

"What are you trying to do?" Seeing this, the Noxus commander immediately signaled for combat, yet he remained puzzled—the attire and physique of these men clearly marked them as gladiators from the Underground Fighting Pit; why would they go against him?

He knew they were all just dogs kept by wealthy Noxian merchants.

He had landed here so brazenly precisely because he assumed these gladiators would never attack Noxians.