Settsetse! The Pirate Nemesis

Upon hearing Gazhi's words, the scholars and workers nearby spontaneously raised their hands and shouted, "Praise be to the God of all machines!!!"

Having just awakened, the mech spirit, which was initially somewhat displeased, felt a surge of vanity after sensing the sounds emanating from its surroundings—just as mentioned before, like Sett, the Azure Wolf mech also enjoys grand displays.

Instantly, all the pent-up frustration and dissatisfaction from waking up were transformed into heavy airflow, expelled from the thrusters and vents on its back and flanks. The scorching steam could easily melt steel. As the steam dissipated, the light trails on the previously flickering Gray Wolf mech gradually stabilized.

As the various indicators of artificial consciousness on the monitor next to him decreased from yellow to green, Jia Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

"It looks like I can focus on my research for a while now."

As he spoke, Value's tone was relaxed. Seeing this, Zephyr looked both intrigued and hesitant to ask. After all, just from the aura it exuded, Zephyr could sense immense threat. Without a doubt, this twelve-story-tall mechanical giant before him was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Armor City… and now, before he had even decided to join Armor City, he had witnessed such a scene. If he continued to ask, wouldn't that be ungrateful…?

Upon glancing at Sett and receiving an affirmative answer, Gazhi casually remarked, "The Azure Wolf Mech has a terrible temper when it wakes up, especially the first and last steps. The rhythm of ringing the bell, the speed of inserting the Hextech Crystal, and even the slightly off-key shout of 'Praise the God of Machines' during the last step could all cause activation failure... Once activation fails, we have to wait three days for the cooldown. Fortunately, we've now mastered most of the rhythm, and the success rate of awakening has stabilized at 70%. We've rehearsed over thirty times in the past three days for this awakening..."

Upon hearing Gazhi's words, Zefa nodded in understanding—when he looked at Gazhi again, the suspicion in his eyes had vanished. In fact, it even carried a hint of pity. After all, from any perspective, for one… no, for a whole group of scholars to act this way, it proved that these scholars had been pushed to the brink…

And more importantly, in Zephyr's view, Gazhi and the others were almost like sycophants to the giant robot in front of them... Okay, although that sounds a bit offensive, that's certainly the impression they gave. Sycophants to a robot, no less. As a naval admiral who understood scientific research but wasn't an expert in academia, Zephyr really found it hard to imagine how much this robot could attract these scholars.

Meanwhile, many students observed what had just happened—though it might sound strange, the current city of Piltover was indeed primarily focused on reverse-engineering the Hextech technology on the Azure Wolf mechs. Under these circumstances, each student had to ensure their timing was perfect when activating the Azure Wolf mechs—the reasoning was sound, but inevitably, when word got out to those unaware, it became the basis for strange urban legends like Piltover scholars having a machine worship culture, a god of machines, a cult of machines, and machine priests…

Of course, these legends are just a drop in the ocean compared to the other legends of the City of Arms.

"Any results? Reverse engineering the Azure Wolf mech?"

Upon hearing Sett's question, Gazhi nodded in response—having completed the three-day-long awakening ritual, Gazhi was now able to relax from his tense state of mind.

Especially since the awakening was completed under the inspection of the leaders—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that a political task was accomplished!

However, they didn't care about politics. Jia Zhi, who was standing to the side, simply said as if reciting a familiar story: "Based on previous experiments, we have successfully reversed the process of extracting energy from Hextech crystals."

"Is the energy extracted... the arcane energy from the piston cycle just now?"

“Yes.” Hearing Sett’s question, Gazhi nodded and said, “With the technology to extract and internally circulate energy, we can reduce the energy consumption of the Prophet Battleship to seventy percent of its original level. And according to the calculations of our team of scholars, as long as our reverse engineering progress reaches sixty percent of the original level of the Azure Wolf Mech, we can reduce the Hextech Crystal energy consumption of the Prophet Battleship to five percent of its current level…”

"Five percent? That much?" Upon hearing Gazhi's words, even Sett was somewhat shocked—the significant increase in energy utilization meant that the Proverb warships could be mass-produced in the future, achieving a true Proverb fleet!

Wherever the range extends, truth is everywhere—that's the irrationality of air supremacy.

Seeing Sett's surprise, Gadgetzan said helplessly, "I already said that the Prophet's use of Hextech Crystal's energy back then was a complete waste..."

Sett was speechless at this—although he knew that Hextech had unlimited potential, this was the first time he had ever seen it reach such an outrageous level.

But after thinking about it carefully, while it sounds impressive and is incredibly powerful to use, if we're really comparing it to other games, just look at the lore of League of Legends: Ekko, the time assassin who developed the Z-Drive and can modify his own timeline… From that perspective, it doesn't seem so impressive after all?

Bullshit! What can an ordinary person compare to a freak who can stand alone as a hero? Putting everything else aside, the protagonist's halo alone is incredibly strong.

Having parents makes them unqualified to clash with orphans who have protagonist auras.

Beyond Hextech crystal energy extraction technology, by working backward, Piltover City has also developed numerous new products based on Hextech crystals, such as energy pumps and crystal engines. However, these products still have a long way to go from conception and actual construction to market availability and civilian use. In Zeff's personal opinion, Piltover City is less a city and more a world of the future… These unheard-of technologies are like putting Bluetooth headsets in the 1990s. Even if they're common in the future, in the eyes of people in that era, they're high-tech equipment exclusive to elite agents.

Somewhat dazed, Sett led Zeff out of the Hextech city and headed towards Demacia, a city that was relatively easier to accept in urban legends.

Compared to Piltover, the first impression of Demacia can be summed up in two words: solid and imposing.

Pure white marble, devoid of any other colors, forms high walls that firmly separate the different districts. Zefa could vaguely sense the flow of energy within them.

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Those of you who have been following my updates should have noticed that my update schedule has been incredibly poor this month. The reason is that I've been suffering from insomnia lately. My biological clock is messed up, and for the past two or three weeks, I've been going to bed at two or three in the morning. I didn't sleep a wink tonight, and I'll go to bed at eight o'clock tomorrow night, trying to get my biological clock back on track in one go.

So today's post is only 4k... It's not that I didn't want to write, but after staying up all night to write, the result is something I don't even want to look at myself...

266·Fearless Vanguard Legion

Although separated by a heavy, massive stone gate, Zephyr could clearly feel the surging energy emanating from it. He could also faintly hear some orderly chants. Although he hadn't officially entered yet, Zephyr could roughly guess that this was probably where the Armstrong City trained its troops... Having seen the Piltover city district and then seeing this area, Zephyr felt a sense of surprise.

After all, judging from the map of Sett City he'd seen before, the Demacian city proper occupied roughly a quarter of the entire city. Zz1tai had imagined it to be something as scientific, advanced, and creative as Piltover. But unexpectedly, it was just a pure soldiers' camp…

It's not that the soldiers' camp is bad, it's just that... Compared to Piltover, if this place is just for pure training, it's a bit of a waste... It wasn't until they fully entered the Demacian city that Zeff realized that everything he had just been thinking was just a superficial guess.

Aside from the soldiers, the city of Demacia was also a processing ground for anti-magic stones. Everywhere one looked, there were simply dressed craftsmen wielding hammers and chisels. Standing atop tall A-frame ladders, they worked intently—not just one craftsman, but many. The massive white stones, seen from afar, resembled pure marble. But unlike marble, these white stones were far more exquisite; even the stone dust falling during the chiseling process was finer.

The stone dust that fell to the ground wasn't simply discarded; instead, the apprentices carefully collected it and meticulously packaged it—even the scraps from carving anti-magic statues were still essentially anti-magic stone. Like what we have now, after reprocessing and recasting, many anti-magic stone armors can be manufactured.

“Anti-Magic Stone…this is also a specialty of Arms City.” Sett knew very well that the Anti-Magic Stone was not yet publicly available, so he explained to Zephyr beside him, “Like Seastone, it can suppress the power of Devil Fruits to a certain extent. However, unlike Seastone, Anti-Magic Stone is a special kind of fossilized wood. After processing, it can generate a wide range of anti-magic radiation. Within this radiation, the abilities of all Devil Fruit users will be suppressed, or even rendered unusable.”

Upon hearing Sett's words, Zephyr couldn't help but widen his eyes, staring intently at the white objects with a look of utter shock. As a Marine Admiral, Zephyr knew all too well the immense price the World Government had paid to obtain enough Seastone to create shackles to imprison Devil Fruit users after Wano Country was taken over by Kaido.

Because of his complete monopoly, Kaido, who controls pricing, can easily set exorbitant prices and then negotiate them down to the bottom without any problem. In fact, leveraging the World Government's need for Seastone, Kaido has repeatedly made various unequal demands—all of which he has made through Orochi. Even so, the World Government has no choice but to swallow its anger.

Unfortunately, for the World Government, Seastone is crucial for stable rule… When Zeff first arrived here, he was worried about the lack of sufficient Seastone, and whether the security of Armhead City could be adequately guaranteed in the face of future rebellions by Devil Fruit users. But now, seeing the anti-magic stones before him and hearing Sett's mention of anti-magic radiation, it's clear that these anti-magic stones don't appear as hard as Seastone. However, their ability to significantly restrict Devil Fruit users is enough to ensure their stability.

Especially important. Knowing that the anti-magic stone could restrict the release of Devil Fruit abilities, and seeing the stone dust that had been chiseled off, Zephyr pondered for a moment before speaking, "That stone dust..."

"It will be processed into armor."

Sett didn't hide anything—not to mention that Sett believed Zeff would definitely join Sett's city. More importantly, these things couldn't be hidden for long anyway. At worst, the World Government would intervene. But was Sett afraid? Not at all. In fact, Sett wanted to take this opportunity to test Im's strength.

Indeed, Im is incredibly powerful. But with his berserk mode as a trump card, it's like having a nuclear weapon; no one would willingly risk their life against Sett unless absolutely necessary.

Especially after witnessing Sett's terrifying regenerative abilities...

“The City of Arms has very few true armies,” Sett explained from the side. “The patrols on the streets are more for law enforcement and are not armies or city defenses in the traditional sense. Even when the City of Arms was on high alert before, the vast majority of those who came out to fight were employees of the Arms Casino.”

With those words, Sett led Zephyr into the inner area. There, a group of shirtless, muscular men were visibly pushing marble statues across a vast exercise area. The statues ranged in weight from three to fifty tons. Of course, pushing them required full-body exertion, not just the strength of a single muscle group. Besides the statues, the area was filled with various kinds of exercise equipment. However, these weren't the sophisticated machines found in gyms; they were mostly simple and easy to operate. For these soldiers, overly sophisticated equipment would easily break down.

The training ground was large, but the number of people present wasn't large at first glance. Scattered about, Zefa estimated there were around five hundred. The rest were mostly attendants and instructors. Aside from the attendants and instructors, there were a few women among the soldiers, but their numbers were small—the physiological structure of men and women is what it is. On the real battlefield, the male physiological structure is always the dominant one. In other words, the physical constitutions of people in this world are all different, like some kind of steel balloon. But even so, strong males overwhelmingly outnumber women.

While Sett was nominally in command of the army, Robin actually handled most of the operations – a necessary evil, as Sett initially intended for Fujitora. However, Fujitora, also a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user, became ineffective near Demacia. Robin, too, was affected – though she primarily handled clerical tasks such as managing daily expenses, pay, and subsidies. These matters could be handled even outside of Demacia.

Although he didn't become an instructor, Fujitora still held the title of honorary instructor. Despite being blind, this didn't prevent Fujitora from learning about the training methods of Demacian soldiers through his attendants' accounts.

Theory alone is insufficient, so Fujitora often trained alongside his troops—in fact, at Fujitora's level, the improvement from simple training was negligible. However, his experience was undeniable, and he spoke highly of Demacia's training methods, which specifically cultivated "elite" and "strong" soldiers, laying a solid foundation and quickly and safely enhancing their physical fitness.

The only problem is that Demacia's training methods cannot effectively awaken Armament Haki and Observation Haki—this is unavoidable, given the different worldviews. In Runeterra, there is no such thing as Observation Haki or Armament Haki.

As Sett looked at them, he said, "The regular soldiers of Armor City are what you see here now, the Fearless Vanguard Legion, numbering about five hundred. Each soldier is a highly talented individual handpicked from Armor City. Even their armor is custom-made with anti-magic stone heavy armor. Anti-magic stone heavy armor can effectively negate the effects of Paramecia-type Devil Fruits, reduce the enhancements of Zoan-type Devil Fruits on the user, and mitigate the troublesome elementalization of Logia-type fruits."

Due to the anti-magic radiation, Logia-type Devil Fruit users cannot freely enter their elemental state once they are wearing heavy armor made of anti-magic stones. In this situation, the threat level of Logia-type Devil Fruit users will be significantly reduced.

"You know my personality; I'm not suited to leading people," Sett said casually. "Fujitora is quite good, but he's also a Devil Fruit user. He'll feel powerless once he enters Demacia's city... The soldiers of the Fearless Vanguard are all fierce warriors, their only weakness being Armament Haki and Observation Haki. And those are both your strengths... I'm short of an instructor here, what do you think?"

Hearing Sett's words, Zeff silently gazed at the soldiers before him. A hint of excitement could be felt in Zeff's eyes. Having served as a Marine Admiral for over a decade, it was impossible for Zeff not to sense the formidable strength of these soldiers—from any perspective, they were undoubtedly elite—especially considering that in the lore, Demacian soldiers followed the path of small-nation elite troops. And Garen's fearless vanguard were practically superhumans, having once achieved the terrifying feat of twenty-seven men wiping out three thousand Nocas.

Was Piltover strong in the Battle of the Twin Cities? Not really… In the Battle of the Twin Cities, Mel's family in Noxus was only considered strong, not top-tier. Furthermore, in the lore, Swain immediately began purging the nobility after taking power. Therefore, the fact that Mel's brother was killed and the country was on the verge of destruction is not entirely fabricated.

Even under these circumstances, the Black Granny still exuded a powerful aura upon arriving in Piltover… In this situation, the Demacian-style fearless vanguard, along with the absolute suppression of Devil Fruit users by the anti-magic stone heavy armor, coupled with Armament Haki and Observation Haki… In this era where individual combat power has reached unprecedented heights, the only use of sheer numbers is to increase the enemy's battle merits!

267·Zu'an

Demacia has a vast territory, but its military strength is far less than that of Noxus, which is of similar size. Coupled with its vow never to expand, Demacia has always prioritized quality over quantity in its soldiers. This is evident in the wars between Demacia and Noxus—Demacia consistently outnumbered its opponents and emerged victorious. While the Dreadnoughts and other legions fared relatively well, the number of special dragon-riding cavalry like the Silverwings was questionable, even reaching a hundred was a challenge…

In the Demacian universe, dragons have an extremely low birth rate and a very long growth period. However, they are also exceptionally powerful in combat, making them arguably the strongest unit in Demacia.

Noxus was truly insane. Fighting on three fronts was bad enough, but the worst part was sending a mage like LeBlanc to attack Demacia—Demacia's terrain was inherently easy to defend, and with the addition of the Anti-Mage statues and Anti-Mage armor, Demacia was practically invincible on their home turf. Even on their home turf, the soldiers' almost superhuman physical abilities, combined with the First Shield and scouting units, resulted in a staggering 27 kills and 3000 damage. Quinn, the Demacian Wing, rose to fame in this battle.

In the game, Galio gets beaten up by LeBlanc, but in the lore, because of his status as a sorcerer statue, all of Noxus's mage armies combined probably wouldn't be enough to defeat Galio alone.

In this context, Sett could be said to have completely disregarded his past intentions when creating these fearless vanguard soldiers. Each one was armed to the teeth—every soldier was an elite handpicked from the previous Sett's casino. Their talent and loyalty were beyond question. Even their children and families received the best possible treatment.

As Sett arrived, the instructor sounded the assembly call. With that, all the soldiers donned their armor anew and lined up before Sett and Zeff—their heights were uniform, each soldier standing approximately three meters tall, with a variation of no more than five centimeters. Their silver-white anti-magic stone armor reflected a cold gleam in the sunlight. Their torsos, arms, thighs… their entire bodies were covered, not a trace of flesh showing. Fingers, joints, elbows, knees, and boots were all inlaid with anti-magic stone spikes, capable of generating immense destructive power even in hand-to-hand combat. From a distance, they resembled a forest of iron towers, or rather, a cluster of spiked iron towers.

Judging from their military bearing and discipline, these soldiers gave Zephyr the impression that they were in no way inferior to the elite troops of the Marine Headquarters... no, in terms of sheer presence, they were even stronger than those elite Marines. Ignoring things like Armament Haki and Observation Haki, just based on their aura alone, each of them was at least a lieutenant colonel, and those like captains were even at the level of a colonel.

Training these soldiers... must be difficult, right?

Others might not know, but Zefa knew perfectly well—to have a strong army, at the very least, the food was absolutely essential. The greater the expenditure, the more nourishment was needed. Just like now, if they didn't eat enough, they simply wouldn't have grown to such a size!

Sett nodded in agreement: "Absolutely. Every single one of them is made with real gold and silver. One suit of armor here weighs half a ton; an ordinary person would be crushed to death if they wore it."

"Half a ton?!"

Upon hearing Sett's words, Zephyr frowned slightly, then said, "In that case, how can we fight? Don't forget, ninety percent of this world is ocean. Although the World Government has it, its army is practically useless. Its personnel are less than one-tenth of the navy's. They mainly patrol some important islands. Things like an army are only provided by small countries. But your country... is not a country in the conventional sense."

Zephyr's words were truly thoughtful, genuinely considering Sett's best interests. Ordinary nations can arm themselves with land forces, allowing their armies to fight pirates on land. But Sett is different—while he hasn't openly declared himself an enemy of the World Government, once war breaks out, regardless of whether the opponent is a powerful pirate from the New World or the World Government's navy, the real battle will undoubtedly begin at sea. If the fighting spreads to towns, the resulting unrest will be immense.

The half-ton armor might be manageable on land, but on the sea, if it falls and there's no one to help you get back up due to the constantly bobbing nature of the warship, you're basically doomed. And if it falls into the water... it probably won't even have a chance to be used before it sinks straight to the bottom.

Sett, standing to the side, seemed quite relaxed, pointing to the armor beside him and saying, "Don't worry about that."

Sett explained, "The leg and hip armor are equipped with pressure regulators and gyroscopes for stabilization. As long as there's no mishap, there shouldn't be any major problems. As for falling into the sea... that's something that hasn't been resolved yet. However, the scholars in Piltover have already started researching it. It won't be long before these armors are able to move underwater."

Upon hearing Sett's words, Zeff nodded thoughtfully—he had already seen the pressure regulator and gyroscope stabilizer that Sett mentioned back in Piltover.

Simply put, they are all devices that use fragments of Hextech crystals as power to stabilize their center of gravity. They weren't developed through pure engineering—but rather through reverse propulsion of the Wolf Mech's stride and legs.

Although the core structure of the Azure Wolf mech remains a distant prospect, technologies more closely related to physics, such as gyroscope stabilization, have been largely overlooked by the scholars—at least so far, the reverse engineering of the Azure Wolf mech has been relatively easy and satisfactory. However, such reverse engineering will only become increasingly difficult later on. In the later stages, it's common for a single achievement to take months, years, or even decades. Nevertheless, progress is still frequent, with some simpler and more practical designs already undergoing civilian modifications.

Piltover's reputation as a city of progress and a city of technology is not just empty words.

“Then I’ll stay and see…” Zefa said, a hint of hesitation in his eyes. “I’ll see if I can adapt to this place. If not, then I’ll make further plans…”

Hearing Zephyr's words, Sett wasn't surprised—Zeffer had always been an indecisive fellow. This was evident in his pity for Robin upon their first meeting, his despair at the murder of his family, and his despair at the killing of his students…

During his time with Zeff, Sett could clearly sense that Zeff might be a good teacher, but definitely not a good leader—as the saying goes, a kind heart cannot command an army, and righteousness cannot manage finances. Placing someone like Zeff in frontline combat was simply ignoring Zeff's true nature.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on the World Government... After all, during the Great Pirate Era, the World Government did indeed lack high-end combat power.

Although he was extremely disappointed with the Navy, Zephyr ultimately dedicated his entire youth to it... no, rather than his entire youth, it would be more accurate to say that he dedicated most of his life to the Navy.

Just like now, although she was very tempted and even prepared to stay in Armor City, the words caught in her throat as she thought of her time in the Navy... and suddenly, she felt a sense of loss again.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely press their advantage and try to get Zeff to commit to staying. But Sett understands Zeff; he knows that even if Zeff is persuaded to stay, he will still yearn for the good times he had in the Navy. But if he can figure it out himself, then there will be no problem... In that case, even if things escalate with the Navy, Zeff won't let personal matters interfere with his duty.

Knowing Zeff well, Sett never intended for him to go to war in the first place—first he lost his wife and daughter, then a ship full of his students perished. For now, Zeff will simply train soldiers and then enjoy his retirement…

Of course, if he volunteers to fight, that's a different story. Although it wasn't explicitly stated, Sett could tell upon his return that Zephyr had lost his former compassion for pirates and wouldn't spout nonsense like "everyone has a chance to repent"—which Sett considered utter rubbish... This latest loss had clearly changed Zephyr a lot. But whether he can actually go to the battlefield ultimately depends on himself.

Just then, Sett suddenly spotted Robin in an isolation suit not far away. From a distance, her tall figure and elegant, intellectual demeanor stood out starkly against the surrounding chaotic and blood-soaked environment. The coldness in her gaze softened slightly when she met Sett's eyes.

Seeing the hint in Robin's eyes that suggested something special, Sett nodded without saying a word, then said to Zeff beside him, "You should get to know the soldiers first... Let me make this clear, he's the trump card of Arms City, don't let him lead me astray!"

"Don't worry! I'm quite confident in my ability to lead troops!" While Zephyr might not be able to speak for everything else, when it comes to leading troops, he's undoubtedly one of the best in the world. This is evident from the fact that he trained the current three admirals and eighty percent of the officers in the Navy Headquarters. It's only because he's uninterested in power and has a gentle, even somewhat timid, personality that he's successful. Otherwise, simply by virtue of his position as an instructor and student, he could become the leader of a faction that directly rivals the Fleet Admiral—and even challenge the Five Elders.

However, if he weren't this kind of person, the World Government wouldn't have risked appointing him as an admiral...

Approaching Robin's side, he lowered his head and said:

"The dragon has arrived in Zu'an."

268·Giant

Marriott City boasts an excellent geographical advantage, situated at a shipping hub in the West Blue. It can be said that regardless of the size of the ship, whether entering the West Blue or leaving the West Blue to enter the Grand Line and travel to other seas, one inevitably has to pass by Marriott City.