Twin Cities: I am the man of many myths

Chapter 268 New Seeds Must Grow Towards the Sun
"Go this way!"

"Hey! My Demacian friends, look this way, we need your help!"

"Yes, yes, quick, let's give this space to the Fearless Vanguard. They're strong, so 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 here?"

"Send people? Go to hell! What kind of people 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 Demacians, Ionians, Freljordians, Shurimas, Zaunites, Piltovers, 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 the 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 pupils contracted, and he exclaimed, "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 Jess'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 Demacian, 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 Dreadnought Legion, 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 8-person shield formation do?"
Noxus people operate in companies, with each company consisting of one or two hundred people, and even then, Noxus still thinks they don't have enough people.

But this is the Fearless Vanguard, a shield formation of eight people, which is enough to withstand thousands of troops.

For example, the Dreadnoughts once held a bridge with three shield walls, resisting a Noxian army of thousands. During this time, the Dreadnoughts not only defended the bridge, but also launched several counterattacks!
And now, this incredibly powerful and talented 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 full week to process these Hextech gems!”

Chris was distressed, but could only nod and say that he understood.

Heaven and earth conscience!

He wouldn't even blink if asked to fight, kill, or go to the battlefield, but he'd rather do hard labor.
He's a fearless 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 popularized and promoted it.

Coupled with his super memory thanks to his large head, Heimerdinger is 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 with all his might.

For this reason, Science Bobby 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 Ekkiys. The only reason it hasn't collapsed yet is because the Ekkiys are incredibly skilled at digging tunnels.

However, as Zuan continues to develop, the construction and engineering projects will inevitably disrupt the existing balance, leading to issues such as land 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, Marson 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 Gilaman 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 with trembling hands and asked softly.

Mel looked at Councilor Giraman 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 Gilaman 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 impact of waves. After all, you can never predict the weather."

Gilamann didn't really know anything about this, 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 Giramann'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.

Hoskar, who was standing next to him with a big belly, also looked at the blueprints curiously.

"Right now, we are relying on the magic of Li Ke and the goddess Gana to calm the sea waves, so all we need to do is fill the sea with sand to create land."

“Congressman Mel, how can you call something like this ‘as long as’?” Hoskar said, his lips twitching.

Damn it, can this be called "as long as"?

Even with all this, the amount of money required is an astronomical pitfall!
This is only possible with two 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 Demacians, 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 ore mine in the mountains to transport minerals, using trains and digging a tunnel that was several kilometers long.

But 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 Hoscal 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 Hoscal, but as things stand, this is not impossible. As for the financial resources involved, the two cities will share the burden. As for the manpower, we already have help from all over the world, don’t we?” Mel said to Representative Hoscal.

Hoskar paused for a moment, then nodded. He was just making a comment; as for opposing it, as a businessman, Hoskar 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’ve already…” Mel was interrupted halfway through his sentence.

The two councilors in front of him were shocked. "Three months? Just three months?" Hoskar 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 Zuan 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 deal with every day. It's impossible for all the councilors to be borrowed by Li Ke, right?

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, he wouldn't have believed it either.

It's not Valoran and Ixtal that's being filled in, but Shurima, which is a sea area hundreds of kilometers long. Who would believe that it could be completed in three months?
But that's the truth. 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 a great deal of her magical energy, dozens of enormous, dark brown sea columns rose from the sea on the left side of the warship, in front of her.

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 led 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 eye-catching group was a group of tall, resolute men. These men were all of similar height and wore black bodysuits with a blue wing pattern printed on them.

They were fearless pioneers, their faces a mixture of emotions—reflection, helplessness, and shock.
Unexpectedly, those who are famous for suppressing magic and fighting against mages will one day cooperate with mages and carry out construction together.

"here we go again!"

After shouting, the fearless vanguard on the shore made way for the large amount of silt and quicksand that had accumulated. They quickly grabbed a steel pipe from the side, and connected the other end of the pipe to a bunch of special, huge tanks in Shuangcheng, 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 fearless 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 difficult for others, after all, the metal pipe weighs several hundred kilograms, but for the fearless vanguard warriors, it is not difficult at all.

Let alone three people, if it weren't for the fact that the pipe was 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 was to move a stone sculpture that was tens of meters tall for hundreds of meters, so for them, it was no different from a vacation.

Inevitably, they will start chatting.

"Stop talking nonsense!" another fearless vanguard soldier said, glaring at him.

"Well, let's all pretend we didn't see it."

"How could you not see that? The light emanating from Lady Laksana 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 unparalleled mastery of earth magic in Runeterra; however, her magical power is also limited.

Lux is currently acting as Taliyah's power bank, replenishing Taliyah's mana whenever it'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.

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 very busy.

Zaun's Councillor Marna is very busy right now. As the good cop of the Zaun administration, she is currently doing ideological work with the people of Zaun.

Even during Zaun's most difficult times, under the oppression of Piltover, the Zaunites never left Zaun. But now that things are better, the Zaunites are being forced to move away from here to some... new Zaun.

Of course they would have objections!
Right now, in the dark alleys of Zaun, Marna, under the protection of Vi and her enforcers, is using a megaphone to persuade most Zaun residents 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?"

Gana tilted her head and asked Li Ke.

As the deity of the people of Zuan, she has recently received a lot of bewilderment, with many Zuan people having a significant shadow over the land reclamation and relocation from this place.

This is because the massive explosion three hundred years ago still casts a shadow over many Zaun people. As the god involved in that explosion, Janna is well aware of the devastation it brought to the people of Zaun.

Now, Li Ke is doing something even more dangerous and outrageous.

“Whether it’s right or wrong, I’m not sure either, Janna.” Rick thought for a moment, then shook his head and said.

Before the letter of protest was handed to him, Li Ke naturally believed that his actions were correct.

Land reclamation is inevitable; Zaun needs new land to develop in the future. Even without the incident of Eksey 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 canyon 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 people of Zuan before implementing the reforms, which naturally drew protests from some people.

To put it bluntly, the current state of Zu'an is ignoring the voices of some people and forcibly carrying out a major reform.

Seeing that Rick 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 Rick again, and saw Rick take a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.

"Of course I heard those dissenting voices, but more than their opposition, what I want is for the children of Zaun to truly have sunshine and more space to move around in the future, instead of living in this narrow space between the two canyons, using sunshine 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, people in Zaun still needed to wear respirators to live, as smog could take their lives at any moment. When the first air purifier appeared in the alleys, many people were unwilling to remove their respirators, unwilling to believe that purifiers could clean up the smog and give them clean air. But now, look around Zaun, does anyone still wear respirators to live?

Moreover, if there are no opponents or obstacles 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 future Zaun to grow towards the sun," Li Ke said.

Right and wrong
Time will tell.

(End of this chapter)