Lux's Farewell

Chapter 355 [0351] War and Brokers

For Lux and Ino, war is not too far away.

Whether it was in Demacia or Zaun, war often appeared around them.

However, from another perspective, in fact, Lux and Ino have never directly participated in a large-scale war—even in the confrontation between Piltover and Swain, the scale was more like It was a small-scale special military operation.

Therefore, when they came outside the city of Uzeris, they were at the end of the queue to enter the city, and after seeing the whole city on full alert and ready for battle, an indescribable sense of depression and tension would still arise in their hearts.

"Uzeris is also ready for war." Looking at the heavily armed soldiers at the city gate, Lacus said in a low voice, "They should have gotten the news from the sea, right?"

"Should be by sea." Kalya affirmed Lacus's statement, "From Uzeris to Naslami, the speed of passing messages through the desert is very slow, but the sea transportation is very smooth, and the speed of taking a boat is faster than marching in the desert. Too much."

"But, why don't the Nasramians go by sea?" When talking about this topic, Lux was a little puzzled, "The cost of desert marching can only be described as terrible, and the speed is very slow. If the ship sets out and arranges a landing and supply point closer to Uzeris, won't the logistical pressure be much less?"

"Relying on sea transportation to establish a supply point and carry out logistics supply, your idea is very good." Seeing that Lux will take the initiative to consider logistics factors, Kalya's tone was somewhat relieved, "However, there is one very important thing to do in this way. The premise of this is that Nashilami must be able to protect its own shipping lanes at sea."

"Isn't the Noxus navy almost finished?" Lux asked, blinking her eyes in surprise, "Their most powerful Sea of ​​Watch fleet was completely wiped out in Dalu Bay, and the Sea of ​​Conquest Although the fleet is called a fleet, its size is pitifully small... I remember when I was in Demacia, my father mentioned this fleet, saying that they were all small sampans."

"The small sampan has to be compared with who! If Noxus' Sea of ​​Conquest fleet is a small sampan, then I'm afraid that Nashilami's fleet can only be regarded as a canoe." Carya laughed loudly. "The experience in Bilgewater seems to have given you some misunderstanding about the navy—in fact, the navy is not inferior to the technical arm of the mage regiment!"

"Huh?" Lux widened her eyes in surprise when she heard the words, "Isn't it inferior to the mage group?"

"Yeah!" Carya continued to explain, "The dirty Bilgewater pirates can show their prowess in naval battles, not because naval battles are easy, but because these old sea dogs are the most adapted to life at sea. , perhaps Nasherami has enough supplies to carry these soldiers and their supplies, but it is absolutely impossible to have a fleet strong enough to counter the Noxian sampans."

"...This is really unbelievable." Not to mention Lux, even Ino was a little surprised, "Obviously Nashrammy seems to have inherited many old things from Shurima."

"But they failed to inherit the ship and the shipyard." Carya smacked her lips, "Do you remember the end of the Nashram Ramos Tumbling Competition?"

"You mean the last platform that jumped into the sea?" Eno recalled, "Is there a pier that looks like a trident?"

"That's the shipyard of the Nasirami Shipyard. Such a small shipyard can't make large warships at all." Carya smiled, "Lax, you have been to Bilgewater and the shipyard in Bilgewater. How is the size of the dock in Nassimme compared to that?"

"The gap is astonishing." Lux recalled for a moment, and finally shook her head, "Okay, I probably understand that Nashilami really doesn't have the ability to defend its own sea transportation line."

"The waterway of the Valoran Strait is not spacious, and the hydrological conditions are very complicated." Carya continued to explain, "Do you still remember when you took a boat from Kalamanda to Piltover? The boat you met along the way, right? Not too big?"

Lacus and Ino looked at each other, and the two recalled a bit, then nodded at the same time.

"Shipping in this kind of place does not require a large-scale ship. Small-sized ships can already meet the requirements. Naturally, there is no need to build large ships." Kalya continued, "At least the Noxian Sea of ​​​​Conquest Fleet It will also compete with Demacia's navy, the two sides are not at the same level at all."

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

In order to prevent spies or spies from entering the city to instigate civil strife, Uzeris checked the people entering the city very closely.

The guards standing in the shadow of the city gate are fully armed, questioning and searching every team that enters the city gate very carefully—they will not only repeatedly ask the identity information of the people entering the city like checking household registration, but also " "Treat them differently" by asking them to say or do something special.

For example, for those who answered "no at all" after being asked "whether they have a belief in giant gods", they would ask the other party to blaspheme.

Anyway, if you don't believe in giant gods, it's okay to scold a few words, right?
What, you dare not scold?

Sorry, separate review - I don't believe in giant gods at all, why don't I dare to scold?

And for those who were asked "whether they are from Nashilami" and answered "not Nashilami, just passing by Nashilami", they will ask the other party to insult Saga.

Similarly, as long as there is a slight hesitation, it is a separate review.

Although this kind of clever review mechanism is not absolutely reliable, the effect is quite good. In front of Lacus and Ino, many people were flushed with anxiety and were finally taken away by the guards—several of them They were all spellcasters disguised as civilians.

Of course, this way of solving the problem is likely to cause accidental injury to civilians, but in the face of war, the Noxians have always been ruthless. They don't care whether a few merchants will be accidentally injured, they only care about Uze Can Rees resist the offensive from Nashilami?

After a long wait, it was finally the turn of Lacus and Ino to enter the city.

As a result, the two people who were already prepared to deal with trouble passed the cross-examination of these guards very easily-they were not asked to blaspheme or insult Saga, and even the obviously strange ones on the camel's back were dressed as statues. The Sefikarts were simply glanced at.

Entering the city so smoothly, even Lacus and Inoyi couldn't react at first.

"That's it?" Leading the camel, Lux held her sword again, "Just came in?"

"Otherwise?" Kalya laughed, "Silly boy, you are not from Shurima, why should they make things difficult for you?"

Blinking their eyes, Lacus and Ino suddenly understood!

Yes.

For these Noxus soldiers, what they need to guard against is the spies and spies from Nasram, to prevent them from inquiring about information and preventing them from creating civil strife.

But Lacus and Ino are obviously not Nashilam beauties at first glance!
You know, Nashiram is one of the most "conservative" Shurima city-states. Although as a commercial city, Nashiram's business environment is not bad, but doing business is business. If you want to settle in Nashiram, that is Two different things.

The Nashiram Americans are really full, so they get two guys who don't look like Shurimans at first glance, and they go to Uzeris to be spies!
How can there be such an eye-catching spy!

Thinking of this, after looking at each other, Lacus and Ino shook their heads helplessly.

Because of the approaching war, accommodation and shopping in Uzlis became very troublesome.

Although Uzeris's sea transportation is still stable, and there is no risk of material shortage in a short period of time, for the sake of urban order, Uzeris still restricts the purchase of goods.

All major markets in Uzeris are closed at this time, and only the internal markets of various urban areas and communities have a small amount of supplies that can barely sustain the lives of residents there.

Although the Noxians are better at attacking, their level of defensive warfare is at least above the national level. They are well aware of the importance of stability in city defense, even if the battle has not yet begun, the entire city has been included in the battle time control status.

Moreover, because of the previous Rakkor riots, in the city of Uzeris, some areas where the Rakkor lived were even built for internal blockade. For outsiders like Si and Yinuo, it's okay to live here honestly without going out, but want to buy a lot of supplies before leaving?

Not allowed!
Fortunately, although Noxus is strictly controlled, Uzeris is not the main sphere of influence of Noxus in the traditional sense, and their control over the grassroots is not as strict and reliable as in Noxus itself.

After paying five gold hexes, Lacus and Ino finally learned about the black market of Uzeris from the owner of the hotel.

"Ran Baka is the most capable guy in our block." The other party carefully put Jinhex into the dark space under the table, while lowering his voice, "He has a good relationship with the Noxus. The Rakkol people can also talk, you can go to him and ask about the situation."

"Then how did you find Mr. Rambaka?"

"Mr. Rambaka is a very respectable man, and every afternoon he goes to the shop on the corner for tea, buy him a cup of mulberry tea without sugar, with double honey, and he will be very happy to make your friend. "

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

According to the hotel owner's words, the two quickly found Mr. Rambaka.

I have to say that the hotel owner's description is quite apt—Mr. Rambaka is indeed a pretty decent guy. Although his hair is not much, it is meticulously combed from all directions to the middle, completely covering the top of his head.

On his body, you can see many different styles of things, but these different styles of things are very harmonious on his body, whether it is the monocle of Piltover on the chest, the gemstone of Kalamanda on the cuff, or The edge of the robe represents the pattern favored by the gods, and the robe has an obvious Noxus-style lining...

Obviously, Mr. Rambaka has his own unique aesthetics and preferences for fashion, and his level is quite high. It is not a simple matter to wear all these seemingly nondescript items on his body, but they look quite harmonious. .

"Did you see it?" Kalya looked at this guy carefully, and there was a rare sense of interest in his tone, "The broker is really professional enough to do this."

"Is he also a broker?" Lux ordered a piece of mulberry tea for this decent gentleman according to the hotel owner's method, and replied in her heart, "I always feel that he is more like an elder, A highly respected character in the local area, with hands and eyes open to the sky."

"Then you read it wrong!" Kalya obviously had a completely different opinion from Lacus, "Believe me, he is a broker. His fancy decorations look bluffing, but at most it shows that he can compete with all forces. It’s just for people to communicate, if you have connections, but you don’t have power, you’re just a broker.”

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for a person with no power to have a good relationship with various forces, right?"

"People with power don't step on so many boats." Kalya looked like someone who had come here, "Come on, go talk to him, and you will understand."

While Lacus and Kalya were communicating silently, the waiter brought the tea to this Mr. Rambaka. After whispering in a low voice, Rambaka finally raised his head and smiled at Lacus.

Lax subconsciously wanted to stand up and go to Rambaka's table, but at Kalya's request, she just nodded, returned a faint smile, and then raised the teacup in her hand.

"Take a small sip of tea." Kalya reminded, "Put out your perfect etiquette posture, keep your neck and back straight, and press the saucer with the ring finger and little finger of your left hand! Swallowing is the kind where the throat should be stable and you can't see the swallowing action." !"

"Ino, take on the appearance of being a maid, be more restrained and indifferent!"

Listening to Kalya's familiar tone and content, Lacus seemed to have returned to the time when she participated in various noble banquets in Demacia. She almost instinctively followed Kalya's request and performed an extremely perfect noble demeanor.

Behind Lux, Ino's performance was also quite perfect - she was originally a noble maid, although she hadn't done this set of movements for a long time, but the movements of straightening her back, relaxing her expression, and smiling politely were still very natural.

"Frown, Lacus, frown, glance at the teacup out of the corner of the eye, put the teacup back on the saucer, and push it away from the left front smoothly with the left middle finger, ring finger and little finger, three inches will do!" Carya continued to command, " Then take a look at Rambaka, squint the corner of your eyes slightly, and give a smile, not a polite smile that is too bright!"

Like a tool man, Lacus perfectly executed Karya's request.

Seeing this scene, Ran Baka, who was extremely decent and polite one second, became stiff the next second.

　Kalya's Little Classroom, Shurima's Professional Broker:

　　Because the current city-states of Shurima are relatively independent and their customs vary greatly, many guides will become brokers after retirement in the process of business dealings. They are familiar with the customs and cultures of various places and can act as a bridge of communication to help business exchanges.

　　PS. Rehabilitation and rehabilitation!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)