Lux's Farewell

Different from the arrogance and publicity when he was in the Immortal Fortress, Kalya was very low-key when he came to Drunne.

With the fluent Noxian he learned in the Immortal Fortress and the large amount of business information about the Immortal Fortress, anyone who sees him will think that he is a Nok with elegant artistic taste who is here to inspect the market. Sars businessman.

Coincidentally, although there are not many merchants in Noxus, there are many merchants in Drunne - this is the northern trade center of Noxus. It is different from the immortal fortress with strong political atmosphere and intertwined forces. Located in the heart of the Dalmor Plains, Drunne is one of the few inland commercial cities in Noxus.

Relying on the water transportation advantage of the Dalmo River, goods from different regions are concentrated here for sale, and then transported to various places. Here is the largest grain market in Noxus, more than two-thirds of which have paid taxes and Private grains taxed by the Chapter are wholesale traded here.

This ratio used to be one-quarter, but after Noxus lost a series of state-owned farms along the Valoran Strait, and coastal cities such as Besilico also became independent, although Drunne's transaction volume was not large, The magnitude increased, but the proportion of transactions increased significantly.

From this point, it is not difficult to see how bad Noxus' economy was after the empire was divided.

Although Darius attacked the old nobles in a dark and ruthless way, not only physically killing them all, but also confiscating their wealth completely, he was quite tolerant towards businessmen - even compared to Swain, he was far less successful in business. Policies are also loose.

Even if this is indeed due to the empire's lack of strength and weakening grassroots control, at least in Drunne, Darius himself still has a good reputation.

Even the Battle of Black Forest, which was regarded as a shame by most Noxians, was regarded by many Drunne merchants as a sign of "knowing the current affairs".

In a sense, the merchants of Drunne do not look like Noxians.

Of course, this is just an appearance.

As Kalya stayed in Drunne for longer and longer and gradually gained a clearer understanding of the merchants here, he soon discovered that in fact, the merchants of Drunne and other Noxians also There is no difference. They are also keen on war, but they care more about the benefits of war than victory and meritorious deeds.

If the military nobles of Noxus are those who directly gain status through war, then these Noxian businessmen are an indispensable part of Noxus digesting the results of the war.

Not only did they help Noxus realize the proceeds of the war, but when necessary, they also served as tax-farmers and provided tax-farming services to Noxian military nobles who became nobles because of their meritorious service but knew nothing about governing the territory. .

From the perspective of these merchants, it is not difficult to find that although Demacia and Noxus have been enemies for hundreds of years, the two sides have obvious similarities in many places.

Leaving taxation and governance to tax collectors is what the two sides have in common.

Kalya, who set off early and pretended to go back to repay Lux, observed the city from the perspective of a businessman in Drunne, while also waiting for the flaws revealed by Darius.

And after he had a clearer understanding of the city of Drunne, Kalya was very convinced that no matter where the secret passage connecting the Diver Fort and the outside world ended, the black iron ore would never bypass it. Pass Druigne.

After finding the clue, Kalya began to look for possible information from the perspective of black iron ore.

To be honest, it is not easy to explore this angle, because dark iron ore is now a contraband in Noxus - when the Diver Fort was still in hand, Noxus allowed a small amount of black iron products to flow in. market, but with the independence of the Iron Thorn Kingdom, the production of black iron products in Noxus suddenly became only a fraction. In this case, the stock suddenly became very valuable.

Therefore, Darius immediately signed a ban on black iron, prohibiting the private sale of black iron products, and set a recycling price for black iron.

It is said that there are policies from above and countermeasures from below. Although the trading of black iron products is prohibited, in the black market, black iron is often put on trading stalls under other names, but their names will change - of course. The authorities of the Immortal Fortress also know that this kind of thing cannot be completely prohibited, and they turn a blind eye to it.

Under this circumstance, Kalya changed his identity and habits without hesitation, and then entered the black market of Drunne as a seller with several pieces of black iron armor and weapons with the labels removed.

Things went smoothly beyond Kalya's imagination, so much so that at first he was a little worried about whether there was any trap.

But soon, he figured out what was going on - Kalya had just entered the black market, and someone offered to buy the black iron armor in his hand.

"Coming from the west, right?" The other party looked at the armor that Karya had received from Lux, and glanced at Karya's mask, and immediately showed a look on his face that he knew everything. , "Now is a good time to sell it, but at a discount."

"Huh?" Kalya reacted quickly and immediately acted like a rooster with fried feathers, "What do you know?!"

"Don't be nervous, you are not the first person to come here to sell armor." Seeing Kalya's appearance, the other party seemed more confident, "To be honest, you didn't have any flaws at first, but when you took out I already knew your identity when I got these two pieces of armor - there are too many people like you during this time."

Kalya does a good job of portraying the wooden posture.

"Let me tell you a place name." The other party came closer to Kalya and whispered, "Black Forest."

"you!"

"Don't be nervous, this is not a police station, and there are no orderly officers." The other party seemed to be very satisfied with Kalya's performance, "Although there is a discount, out of respect for you, I can still give you a fair price... Relax, at least in Drunje, you won’t have anything to worry about.”

Kalya had completely confirmed the other party's thoughts and simply got off the slope.

"The fair price is not enough, I need to find a doctor." He also lowered his voice, like a wild beast, "These are two pairs of armors, you should understand."

"You make me stand in awe." The other party seemed to be very touched, but Kalya was keenly aware of the disdain hidden in it. "Business is business, but I am willing to provide a little personal subsidy - if you still have Other good stuff.”

"A black iron battle axe." Kalya gritted his teeth, as if he had made a great decision, "If you are really powerful enough, then prove it to me."

"I do know the best doctor in Drunje." The other party took the initiative to comfort Kalya, "Don't worry, his treatment is anonymous."

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

After paying the price of two pieces of black iron armor and a black iron battle axe, Kalya received a pitiful sum of golden eagle coins, a note recording the location of the secret doctor, and a series of precious information.

Thanks to this "skilled black-hearted businessman", Kalya has a deeper understanding of Drunne.

The other party's familiar appearance obviously mistook Karla for being a deserter from the Black Forest Battle. Judging from his skillful words and reactions, recently, he wanted to sell armor on the black market in Drunne. The number of deserters and weapons was quite large. Even Kalya has reason to suspect that the other party may have some contact with Noxus officials. This judgment comes from the sales channels of black iron armor on the one hand, and from the judgment of interests on the other hand - the Noxus Si Lai, rather than leaving these black iron armors in the hands of deserters, it would be better to take them back on the black market.

As for why Noxus didn't directly send people to capture these deserters...

The biggest possibility is that catching them will be of no use and will instead be a waste of food.

In the Battle of the Black Forest, almost all the soldiers of the Western Front who were defeated by Demacia fell into an emotional breakdown. If we really arrest them, the result will only spread panic, so it is better to simply recover them. After removing the weapons and equipment in their hands and eliminating unstable factors, they went with them.

At least the price of purchasing black iron armor from the black market is much cheaper than the severance pay.

This discovery is quite interesting - it proves from the side how hard the Battle of Mirkwood was to Noxus.

Although the Black Forest is indeed just a corner of Noxus, and even if it holds the Black Forest in its hands, Noxus cannot get anything from this deep mountain forest, but from the choices of those veterans and Noxus Judging from the subsequent response, after this battle, Noxus lost more than just a black forest.

The decline of an empire never happens overnight. It took nearly a thousand years for the Shurima Empire to decline and completely fall apart. Although the Noxxi Empire seemed to have completely collapsed after a rune war, that rune war From the outbreak to the end, it also lasted several years.

And now, with the three defeats of Presidence, Tobitsia and Black Forest, Noxus has completed the process of turning from prosperity to decline and internal division, and has now reached the crossroads of complete destruction.

Unfortunately, Kalya, who realized this, not only did not intend to help, but even planned to step on the accelerator of this war machine that was rumbling downhill.

After all, in Kalya's heart, such a militaristic country should not exist in Runeland.

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

After leaving a small mark, Kalya reluctantly sold these pieces of black iron armor.

Then, following the guidance of the marks, Kalya quickly had a general understanding of the black market's circulation.

When Kalya saw the two pairs of armors again three days later, they had been packed into huge cargo boxes with the label [Barley] attached to the outside.

It’s really interesting. You call this barley?

Kalya was interested in inquiring about the transportation destination of these "barley", but after observing the transporters from a distance, he decisively gave up the idea.

Although those people looked like just common caravan guards, Kalya could see traces of soldiers on them at a glance - obviously, these guys had obvious military backgrounds.

Either they are the white gloves of a war group that is trying to make a living, or it is the armor recycling channel that the War Stonemason has set up for the Immortal Fortress. Anyway, Kalya can completely confirm that these armors will soon become Noxian's again. Equipment appears on the battlefield.

Of course, although you can't inquire directly, you still have to keep an eye on these armors.

After all, armor needs maintenance. Kalya believes that these "barley" must go through the hands of craftsmen before returning to Noxian soldiers, and the place where the craftsmen are located is likely to be related to the excavation. There is a connection with the fort's passage.

At this point, Kalya's guess was absolutely correct.

One day later, he clearly felt his mark moving.

It seems to have left Drougne along the Dalmo River.

But not long after leaving, the mark stopped.

That night, through the guidance of the mark, Kalya quickly found the armor's next distribution center.

This is an unassuming-looking village located on the north bank of the Dalmo River.

From a distance, this seems to be an ordinary village. The village is located on a slightly raised hill. Viewed from the Dalmo River, the village surrounded by wheat fields looks peaceful and peaceful.

The only small problem was that it was already late at night when Kalya arrived, but there was still smoke in the village late at night, and it seemed that there were night owls cooking in the middle of the night.

This is definitely not normal.

The marked location is underground.

Now that he already knew the answer, the process of inferring it became much simpler. After confirming the location of the mark, Kalya returned to the village dock and searched along the traces of the ruts - in the end, he succeeded The secret Noxian base was found.

An underground forge that looks somewhat similar to the Well of Darkness in the Immortal Fortress.

From this perspective, Kalya has reason to suspect that it is an ancient building left over from the Noxian Empire, which was transformed by the Noxians and became a base for equipment forging and maintenance.

Here, Kalya also discovered the elite battle groups that he had always wondered about and disappeared in the Immortal Fortress.

They didn't know when they arrived in this small village, and were currently stationed in a secret base, waiting for further deployment.

Although he has not yet penetrated into the core area of ​​the base, Kalya can already confirm that the Noxians really spent money this time, because the black iron armor he sold was completely dismantled and smelted.

Judging from the situation in the qualitative workshop, it seems that Noxus is also planning to produce a batch of iron cans.

Great, here it is! (End of chapter)