Lux's Farewell

Chapter 136 [0133] Reincarnation in the flames

Many years later, surrounded by raging flames, Baron Guppers finally recalled the distant morning when he followed his father into the factory to work when he was a child.

If time goes back 30 years, maybe I will be one of those cheering people?

After confirming that the container had been ignited, he found a fairly clean place and sat down cross-legged.

Thirty years ago Goopers was just a 30-year-old kid.

On one of those rare, full evenings — Goops still remembers eating stuffed bread with a sour but always memorable purple berry filling — after a rare and full meal , the younger brother and younger sister went out to play stone throwing, while Goopers was left at home by his father.

"You are already 12 years old." His father's voice was low and hoarse, but full of doubt, "Come and work in the factory with me tomorrow."

Goopers was reluctant.

But he didn't have a choice—or, rather, most Zaunites his age didn't have a choice.

So, after a whole night of tossing and turning, the next morning, wearing his father's shirt with two buttons missing, a pair of battered shoes with two extra cushions and filters, the first Once through the iron gate, came to the alchemy factory.

Little Guppers watched his father give a golden and shiny golden hex to the supervisor, and changed his place to himself.

That was the first time he saw a factory, the first time he saw a roaring machine, and the first time he saw Jinhex.

It was also the last time I saw my father.

Such things as killing people are almost normal in Zaun's alchemy factory-there is a hell joke...

"Why do the alchemy products of the Zaun people, even the paint, have many impurities? Because the Zaun people are these impurities."

No pension, no compensation, the only generosity of the "good-hearted" Baron was not to take back the relatively safe post of Guppers, but as a price, his salary was cut in half.

The halved salary is not enough to support Guppers and his younger siblings, and he has no ability to save another gold hex for the supervisor, and send his younger brother to the factory. He wants to find his father's former friend But it is a pity that those people sympathize with this child, but all they can do is give him some bakery coupons.

With coupons, Goopers could buy bread for half price, but only for those that hadn’t been sold the day before—and because of Zaun’s poor food safety, his brother also left him with a bout of diarrhea, and that year , he is 14 years old.

He tried to argue with the owner of the bakery, but was thrown out directly. Not only that, he also lost the right to use the coupons, and he no longer had half-price bread.

The younger brother's body was finally sold to a human laboratory for a gold hex, and with this gold hex, Guppers sent his sister to a private workshop—his vision was far greater than that of his father. More broadly, he firmly believes that only by mastering a technology can he really stand out.

There is no future for being a cow and a horse like yourself.

Guppers' younger sister is very smart, and she is very popular with the workshop owner. She even went to Piltover several times with the chubby aunt to discuss business with people from another world.

Every time she came back from Piltover, she would excitedly tell Guppers what she had seen and heard, her eyes shining like stars.

And looking at the vision in her eyes, Guppers would say every time, "We will move to Piltover too, I promise."

In order to realize his sister's dream, Guppers began to try to make money by other means—or, for a Zaunman of his origin, there is no way to make money that is not considered a side line.

At first, Goopers opted to fake bakery coupons and sell them to coworkers for a fifth of the price.

This method allowed him to make his first money.

But soon, his trick was seen through by the owner of the bakery—the other party spent money and hired a few gangsters to teach Guppers a lesson.

And Guppers, who had been prepared for a long time, used more golden hex to instigate these gangsters.

They were paid to work anyway, and they eventually followed Guppers, turned around and rushed into the bakery together, beat up the mean boss and took all the other's cash.

This was Goopers' first use of violence, and as the floodgates opened, things began to spiral out of control.

Guppers found that it seemed that in Zaun, fists were sometimes particularly useful--and with gold-hex, you could hire more fists, and use more fists to earn more gold-hex.

With this discovery, Guppers finally embarked on another path. Instead of continuing to work in the factory, he gathered a large group of gangsters and thugs and began to "rob the rich and give to the poor" to deal with those cunning small businessmen. hawker.

Goopers' "career" is thriving.

And at that time, his sister met a young man from Piltover at a cooperative banquet.

It was a handsome fellow, who was said to be from a down and out family.

Unlike the sloppy Zaun people, he is always clean and neat, and his cuffs always smell of blue lavender. He admires the intelligence of Guppers' sister, and the two quickly fall in love.

When it comes to love, the people of Zaun are always passionate and unrestrained - by the time Goopers knew about it, he already had a nephew.

Although he gritted his teeth, Guppers still hoped to meet that Picheng guy. He didn't ask for anything from him, but only hoped that he could take his sister away from Zaun. Even as long as he could marry his sister, Guppers could still get A dowry would be considered a considerable amount even for an ordinary Piltover.

But unfortunately, the other party didn't mean that at all.

Even when he was with Goopers' sister, it was not for her alone, but for some ingenious design schemes in her private workshop.

He pre-registered the patent at the Piltover Patent Office, and then brought the law enforcement officer to visit, condemning the "infringement" of the workshop where Guppers' sister worked, and claiming compensation on the spot.

A conflict broke out like this.

In the conflict, Guppers lost his nephew and his sister.

This time, he was completely, completely alone.

Guppers wants to muster his fists to deal with that damned Piltover, but none of these thugs is willing to cross the canal and find trouble with a "big shot" who lives in Bluesun Manor.

Not only that, but the "clever mind" guy betrayed the news - Goopers' most trusted brother exposed his safe house for thirteen golden hexes.

Unsuspecting Guppers was picked out, beaten up, and finally thrown into a waste water ditch. If he hadn't pretended to be dead in time, and the waste water was still smelly, I'm afraid his result would be that he was completely killed. kill.

That year, Guppers was 23 years old.

Guppers, who escaped from the dead, had no worries anymore. With the will of revenge, he took out all his savings, inquired and found the bastard's competitor, and became a vicious dog with dog food.

In this way, he followed a Picheng guy on the saddle, watching him use various means to intimidate and lure, win over and divide, gradually occupy the market, and let the bastard who stole his sister's wisdom go from complacent to nothing.

When he had to sell all his property, pay the fine from the council, and leave Blue Xun Manor in desperation to make a comeback, Guppers blocked him in a small alley.

"My sister and nephew, they miss you."

Guppers, who killed the bastard, did not stay in Piltover, but returned to Zaun.

Guppers, who came back again, is no longer a hardworking worker, no longer a low-class gangster, he has learned a lot from the Picheng guy, and now he plans to use these in Zaun, and use this to bring him Among the countless suffering cities.

Unlike many alchemy barons who like to enjoy themselves and are extremely greedy, Guppers has always been known for being ruthless. Anyone who offends him will be retaliated against regardless of the cost. Wolf.

Others say that Guppers must take revenge, but only he knows that it is because after losing everything, only revenge can bring him a trivial happiness.

In order to support his huge group of thugs, Guppers had to start a business, and because of this large-scale thugs, his business grew bigger and bigger.

No one dared to compete with Guppers for business, because that meant that he might be beaten up, and even his life would be lost.

In this way, Guppers finally became a baron of alchemy.

This time, Guppers drew his sword and looked around, but he was at a loss.

The former "good" alchemy baron went bankrupt long before Guppers made his fortune. He didn't even leave a grave, and he no longer had a goal.

The bewildered Guppers finally kept up with the trend of the times this time, and became more and more similar to other alchemy barons.

Open more factories, clean up those thorny workers, find ways to deduct wages, and compete with peers without a bottom line.

The only difference between Guppers and them is that he will treat his thugs better, that's all.

........................

The tongue of fire was licking Guppers' body, and beside him, several loyal thugs were moaning in pain.

But Guppers didn't seem to feel the pain.

Compared with the pain, what he cared more about was the ten years after he became the Alchemy Baron - when he recalled these ten years, there was nothing in his mind.

It seemed like ten years had passed by in a flash, but nothing was left behind.

He should have eaten a lot of delicacies, but those delicacies were far less impressive than a piece of sandwich bread.

He should have many extremely loyal subordinates, willing to accompany him to the last moment even in the sea of ​​fire, but he never really believed them.

At the last moment of his life, Guppers unexpectedly discovered that his life was blank for a whole ten years, so that when he wanted to end this life with happy memories, what he could recall, But only the sourness of that corner of bread.

At this moment, Guppers suddenly envied the workers outside.

It's not that I envy them that they can live, nor that they win in the end.

Guppers envied that they had a purpose, like his own sister—envied that their eyes could be as kind as stars.

The flames are getting higher and higher, and the smoke is getting bigger and bigger.

Guppers coughed softly.

The scorching air irritated his airways, making his coughing more urgent—but he flicked the filter off his face and threw it into the flames.

This is the last moment of his life, and according to Zaun folklore, one should not wear a filter in the last moment.

Having done this last thing, Goupus sat quietly where he was, without confessing his sins, and without fear of death.

For him, his life may have already ended.

Or, in that early morning, when he entered the alchemy factory for the first time at the age of 12, his life had already been determined—this city that advocates the wind of freedom is actually not as free as it seems.

On the contrary, now, when Guppers is about to die, this dreary city like canned food has finally lifted a corner of the lid.

Closing his eyes, Guppers finally calmed down.

In a trance, it seemed that someone put a new filter on him to isolate him from the irritating gas.

What surprised Guppers was that the filter on this side was unexpectedly large, even covering his entire face.

"Let's go." A voice whispered in his ear, "Don't keep the wolf waiting."

Guppers didn't know whose voice it was.

But he didn't hesitate.

Stretching out his hand, Guppers tidied up the "filter" on his face, lightly followed the guidance of this voice, and embarked on another brand new journey.

Just like 30 years ago, the child who followed in his father's footsteps with the filter, unbuttoned shirt, and oversized leather shoes.

　Karya's Little Classroom Zaun's Death Folklore:
　　In Zaun, the dead should not wear any filters or bandages on their faces, because according to the ancient folklore of Vazuan, death will wear a mask, and the dead who wears the mask can go to another world. world.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)