LOL: Summoner of Goddess Jana

Chapter 390 The Hand of Noxus (Two in One)

The next day, the imperial capital, the Immortal Fortress.

When Darius, leading his general's personal guard, returned to the capital of the empire after a long absence, the streets and cityscape of the Immortal Fortress seemed much more depressed than the last time he saw it.

The protracted and futile war, except for the achievements of the military supplies industry controlled by the nobles, has never brought any benefits to the empire.But the heavy burden brought by the war is actually on the hundreds of millions of imperial citizens.

The resulting terrible economic depression eventually inevitably spread from the vast countryside, towns, and cities to the prosperous capital of the empire.

As a result, even the vast slums can no longer accommodate the growing filth of the city.

The homeless orphans, ragged beggars, and sick tramps began to spread to the entire city like an unstoppable flood.

Except for the well-guarded rich communities and honorable manors, you can almost see these poor people struggling to survive in almost every corner of the city and on every roadside.

This made the work of those urban body collectors much more onerous.

In the past, they only needed to go to the slums to collect the corpses of the poor, but now there are so many poor people that even the slums cannot fit.

They had to push the car through the streets and alleys of the Immortal Fortress, and then turned over the "road corpses" that could be seen everywhere on the roadside.

Those who were terribly dead were loaded into carts and sent outside the city to be burned;

Those who were still breathing were also moved up and sent outside the city to be burned.

Anyway, the fate of these people is doomed.Now I won’t move it to burn it, and I will need to come back and move it after a while.

This is what Darius saw when he returned to the Immortal Bastion.

Of course, he didn't really care.

In other words, he has seen too much, and he has long been numb.

The credo of Noxus is the law of the jungle.The weak will die because he is weak and he can only blame himself.

Therefore, the Great Depression brought about by the war has never been a problem for the Noxus Empire.

According to "Noxian Economics":
The most intuitive manifestation of economic depression is the concentrated unemployment of a large number of people in a short period of time.

And the large number of unemployed people is because the current economic situation cannot provide so many jobs.

Then the problem is easy to solve-since the problem is that there are not enough jobs, then as long as these unemployed people are completely dead, jobs will naturally be enough.

Anyway, these weak people can do nothing but wait for death obediently.

So the empire doesn't need to do anything, just "govern by doing nothing", "follow nature", and wait for them to die naturally.

Of course, if the number of unemployed people is too large, the Noxus Empire will occasionally give them some small help.

For example, the Boys Corps and the Slave Corps on the front line have always needed a large number of orphans and vagrants as cannon fodder.

This method of "military relief" combined with "natural elimination", the visible hand and the invisible hand work together, and it has indeed helped Noxus (physics) eliminate countless poor people, and thus survived the past Numerous economic crises.

"General." A personal guard noticed Darius and looked at the orphans on the side of the road with complicated eyes.

Thinking of the same humble background of this great general, he couldn't help asking carefully: "Do you need me to give them some money?"

"." Darius finally looked back slowly, then shook his head again: "No need."

He didn't do anything superfluous.

Darius himself was once one of these wandering orphans.

But he was able to rely on his military exploits to grow step by step from a war orphan to a general, the hand of Noxus, and the generalissimo of the Northern Legion.

Noxus is fair, there is no shortage of opportunities here.It's just that the empire gave you the opportunity, so you can use it yourself.

If a person is useless by himself, there is no need to help.

Also, he couldn't help it.

"Let's go, let's go see His Majesty." Darius left these homeless orphans behind and continued to lead the team forward.

This time, he used the excuse of recruiting and replenishing troops to rush back to the capital from the front line of the northern Freljord, in order to meet His Majesty Darkwill face to face and persuade the emperor to end this meaningless war.

There are no seasons in the Freljord, only a never-ending winter.

This piece of land cannot be cultivated and reclaimed, and there are no resources worth plundering, and the weather is so cold that it is hardly suitable for human survival.

To put it bluntly, even if this damn place is given to Noxus for free, it will be a huge burden that will only waste administrative funds in vain.

In the past few years, Da Keweier has been insane, constantly ordering Darius to lead the army out of the fortress, and go deep into the north, trying to make those barbarian tribes submit to the foot of the empire.

The Northern Expedition to the barbarians seems understandable at first glance.

But the barbarians of the Freljord don't live on the prairie with lush water and grass, but in the "Arctic Circle" of ice and snow!
Isn't it asking for trouble to go to that kind of ghost place colder than the North Pole to fight barbarians?

So, not surprisingly
The battle was protracted and eventually reached a bitter and cold stalemate.

Darius has been in danger many times, has been assassinated, ambushed, and even captured by the vicious Winter's Claw tribe.

Finally, the endless war of attrition tired him out.He wrote to the emperor again and again, asking for an end to this senseless war.

But Keweier's attitude has always been so stubborn, so stubborn that it is incomprehensible.

Darius felt more and more that something was wrong.And at this time, a rumor began to circulate in the army:

"Black Rose." Darius looked up at the majestic immortal fortress, with complicated thoughts.

Emperor Darkwill was controlled by a cabal named Black Rose—this rumor was said to have originated from the leader in the south of the empire.

But it spread at an unbelievable speed, and spread throughout the entire Noxus Empire from south to north in just one month, especially in the major frontline legions of the Noxus Empire.

For a while, the morale of the army was shaken, and the situation became turbulent.

Darius vaguely realized that this exaggerated speed of transmission was very wrong.

After all, the leader is an overseas force with a shallow foundation, and it is impossible to extend its hand so far.There must be a force from within the empire behind this. For some ulterior purpose, it cooperates with the leader's propaganda offensive and secretly fuels the flames.

And this is why Darius decided to return to the imperial capital this time:
"Who is spreading these rumors? Besides, they are still spreading such rumors against the army?" Darius was faintly disturbed by this, so he led his general's personal guards and hurried back to the Immortal Fortress.

First, he wanted to find out the source of this rumor.

Secondly, he also wants to meet with Darkwill to discuss in detail, to confirm the mental state of His Majesty the Emperor——

Yes, although Darius noticed all the strange things in the process of spreading the rumors, he still half-believed those rumors.

no way.
Li Wei's spoiler, combined with Swain, an insider's revelation, and the rumors about the black rose that the leader finally spread are too rich in content and details.

Darius knew very well that many of the things mentioned in those rumors were true, and they were still secrets that could only be grasped by the top of the empire.

So he also had to wonder if Darkwill was really controlled by a mysterious organization—that's why he changed from a wise king to the current headstrong, irrational mad emperor.

"General, there seems to be a commotion ahead."

Darius was worried about the country's affairs, and he didn't notice the sudden commotion on the road ahead until his personal guard reminded him.

"Killed! Killed!" First, a group of panic-stricken citizens ran from the front like fleeing sheep.

Darius didn't notice anything was wrong at this time, he just thought it was another gangster fighting on the street.

But not long after, there were many Noxus soldiers among the fleeing crowd.

And behind those Noxus soldiers, there was actually a group of "ordinary citizens" of the imperial capital who were just dressed as ordinary people and armed with military-style long knives.

"This is the garrison of the capital?" Darius was taken aback when he saw this.

The capital of Noxus was designed from the beginning to function as a military fortress.

Many city gates, important departments and landmark buildings inside and outside the Immortal Fortress have special garrison troops responsible for daily guards.

Although these patrolling troops are not considered the Emperor's Miyagi Forbidden Army, they can be regarded as the battle group directly under the emperor's feet.

But now, there is actually a group of "ordinary citizens" who dare to attack the imperial garrison directly under the emperor in the streets of the imperial capital?
Moreover, they still won?
"The garrison is one of the most elite troops in the empire." Darius quickly reacted: "Not afraid of the power of the garrison, this is no ordinary citizen. These people are obviously rebels!"

In terms of the nature of their behavior, there is no doubt that:

"Rebellion, this is a rebellion!" Darius immediately thought of the dangerous rumor that confused the army.

Sure enough, there were rebels plotting to make trouble behind this.

As the hand of Noxus personally appointed by His Majesty the Emperor, and a loyal minister of the empire, he certainly cannot tolerate such a rebellious thing happening.

"What's ahead?" Darius hurriedly grabbed a fleeing soldier and asked him, "What place are you guarding? Why did the rebels attack there?"

"Hai-Hexgate!" The soldier replied hastily, "That's the newly built cargo Hexgate hub in the capital."

"Oops!" Darius' heart sank.

He immediately realized the purpose of the gang of rebels:

The capital is surrounded by heavily guarded troops, and only the Hexflying Gate can bypass the layers of defenses around the imperial capital and send troops directly to the city center of the Immortal Fortress.

This group of rebels must be planning to seize the control of the Hexfly Gate, and then cooperate with the inside and outside to lure the outside rebels into the capital, so as to capture the Immortal Fortress in one fell swoop!
"Follow me!" Darius rushed up without hesitation.

Because foreign generals cannot bring too many troops to Beijing, he only brought a few dozens of personal guards on this trip.

But that's enough.

Dozens of extraordinary fighters who have experienced many battles, plus Darius, the humanoid Gundam, are more than enough to deal with a group of rebels.

So Darius immediately led his team to kill the Hexfly Gate hub, and suddenly appeared in front of the group of rebels who had successfully occupied the Hexfly Gate hub.

"You rebels, just stay with me! Watch me send you all to heaven!"

Darius yelled loudly, causing everyone present to tremble with fear.

"Who, who?" Those rebels who thought they had completely controlled the situation were suddenly taken aback by this sudden change.

Darius didn't hesitate either.

He picked up his big axe, rushed into the crowd shouting, and prepared to give these rebels a set of A, W, and massacre——

"Draius is here! Who dares to kill me?!"

"Brother!" The rebel leader greeted him in surprise: "It's me, brother!"

Darius: "."

The big ax he chopped out abruptly moved half a meter to the side in the air.

With such an abrupt turn and force, he almost lost his old waist.

When Darius finally regained his strength and looked up at the rebel leader, his heart was twitching violently.

"De, Delevingne" This is his own brother.

The younger brother of Hand of Noxus actually became the leader of the rebels and took the lead in rebelling against Noxus?
"Brother, why did you go back to the Immortal Fortress?" Delevingne still greeted him cheerfully: "Forget it, you just came—"

"Now the Hex-flying gate has been taken down by me, and the sentry post leading to the Immortal Fortress has been cleared by my people. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, we can attack the Immortal Fortress together, and take the mad emperor away." Pulled off the horse!"

Darius: "."

There was a terrible silence.

The eyes of the surrounding guards looking at him became more and more strange in this silence.

"General." Finally, a personal guard tentatively asked in a low voice: "So you suddenly brought us back to the capital for...for"

"This..." the guards were all aggrieved: "You should tell us about this kind of thing in advance."

"." Darius' face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

He looked at Draven angrily, and asked loudly: "Draven, are you crazy? Who bewitched you and made you do such a crazy thing!"

"This is my own choice." Draven replied quite seriously: "Look, what the empire has become now! Noxus can no longer be ruled by those greedy and short-sighted old nobles. Think To restore the former glory of the empire, these insects must be wiped out."

"Brother, come and do it with me—we're not rebelling, we're saving this country."

"History will do us justice, we"

"Shut up!" Darius interrupted his brother angrily.

He knew that Delevingne was not a particularly patriotic person.

This set of "make the empire great again" persuasion rhetoric must have been taught to him by someone else.

"Who? Who asked you to do these things?!" Darius knew that Draven must have been used.

"It's me." A voice sounded slowly.

The voice came from a suspicious red-eyed crow flying around Draven.

Darius had never seen this crow.But the sound it made was very familiar to him.

"General S, Swain" Darius couldn't believe it.

Swain is the imperial general he respects the most, and he is like a senior and a teacher in his mind.

After Presidium's humiliating defeat, Darius even publicly expressed his opposition to the emperor's decision to dismiss Swain.

From a political point of view, Darius's public statement is tantamount to an open alliance.

It is not wise to stand in line with a defeated general who was deliberately suppressed by the emperor.

But Darius did it anyway.

Because he respected this strategist commander from the bottom of his heart, and he believed that Swain would be able to regain his strength in the future, make a comeback, and continue to shine for the future of the empire.

Unexpectedly, Swain did make a comeback, and indeed came to continue to shine for the empire.

But the light and heat he emitted this time were too strong, like the second "sun" suddenly appearing in the sky of the empire.

"Really, is it you?" Darius still couldn't believe that Swain would betray the empire.

"You'll know right away," said the crow.

As soon as the words fell, the Hexfly Gate sent out a strong wave of magic.

Swain and Amistan, leading a vanguard force composed of elite fighters, appeared mightily among the brilliant blue magic light.

"This" Darius finally accepted the reality.

He couldn't help but clenched the big ax in his hand, and questioned the man he once regarded as a role model: "Why?"

"Why?" Swain said calmly, "Because I swore allegiance to Noxus, not Darkwill."

"Is this reason enough?"

Darius was taken aback.Swain looked over indifferently.

He knew Darius well.

Darius is rigid, reserved, and far too abiding by the rules.

If he had been told the plan before the riot, he would definitely choose to refuse, and even report their treason to Darkwill.

But if you cut and play first, drag Darius into the water through Draven first, help Darius break the invisible shackles of the rules, and then tell him what they are going to do-then Darius will definitely choose to follow In my own heart, I half pushed and half joined them.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for a shaken expression to appear on Darius' face.

"Did you know?" Swain took out his trump card at this time: "The empire's tens of thousands of troops in Ionia were almost wiped out yesterday."

"What?!" Darius' heart sank: "This was done by the leader?"

"It can be said that, but the leaders didn't directly kill them." As he spoke, Swain repeated his tricks, causing the crow on his shoulder to spit out a beam of light, and played the real video recording the whole process of the Battle of Balua .

Then, unsurprisingly
Seeing the "excellent performance" of Vladimir and Elise in the video, Darius was immediately shaken.

"These are made of black roses?"

"Yes."

"Is the black rose real?"

"Yes." Swain said seriously, "Everything you heard about the black rose is true."

"How can you guarantee that this scene is not an illusion you fabricated to deceive people?" Darius was aggressive.

"The news of the disastrous defeat on the front line of Balua was transmitted back to the Immortal Fortress as soon as possible yesterday, and it was 'inadvertently leaked' out, reaching the ears of the general public in the Immortal Fortress."

This is naturally Swain's handwriting.

"Why do you think that the elite garrison troops of the empire were beaten so helplessly by the troops led by Draven?"

"Because they all know what happened in Balua and the truth about the existence of the black rose—now, no one is willing to work for the puppet on the throne."

This is the general trend.

The disastrous defeat at the Battle of Balua not only dealt a heavy blow to Emperor Darkwill's prestige, but also exposed the existence of the Black Rose to the whole world in a bloody and cruel way.

The long-standing conflicts within the empire finally ushered in a total outbreak at this moment.

If the hearts of the people are scattered, the team will not be able to lead.As a result, even the garrison of the imperial capital didn't bother to defend the Immortal Fortress.

If he could fire two shots into the sky, he would be worthy of the salary Darkwill gave him.

"This..." Darius was dumbfounded for a while.

He had just returned to the imperial capital today, but he did not expect that the situation of the Immortal Fortress had undergone such drastic changes.

Seeing Swain's resolute expression, and recalling the bizarre scene of the soldiers of the garrison who had no fighting spirit and fled in embarrassment, Darius had actually faintly believed his words.

But he still questioned instinctively: "This doesn't explain anything. Who knows, if this is another rumor you spread!"

"Rumor?" Swain said unhurriedly: "When you go to the Immortal Fortress with me and see the military report on His Majesty's desk, you will know whether it is a rumor or not."

"Ridiculous!" Darius frowned: "When I go to the Immortal Fortress with you, then even if it is fake, it will become true!"

"Yeah." Swain smiled.

He didn't continue to explain, but instead asked the other party: "Whether it's true or not, does it matter?"

"Don't the empire need to change if the black rose doesn't exist?"

Darius: "."

Once again he fell into a deep silence.

He thought of the depression he saw on the street, the endless snow and ice of the Freljord, and the brothers Paze who fell in that snow and ice one after another because of the emperor's almost crazy order.

Many people died, and died meaninglessly.

This war has really lasted too long.

Noxus will inevitably perish if it does not change.

"Draius." Swain said to him: "The nobles of the empire are eating away this great country little by little. They manipulated the emperor and launched one war after another that only benefited them."

Noxus pays attention to the law of the jungle, and the nobles are powerful, so they deserve to enjoy wealth.

But the problem is that there is still a part of the law behind this "law of the jungle" that was forgotten by those imperial nobles:
Since the weak prey on the strong, the strong who eat the meat should do more work and play a more important role than the weak.

People who enjoy the privileges of the empire, but can only have a counterproductive effect on the development of the empire.
"Don't you deserve to die?"

"." Darius looked moved, as if he could no longer hide the thoughts in his heart.

"So, what is your choice?" Swain issued a final invitation to him.

"I am the Hand of Noxus." Finally, Darius gave his answer: "I am loyal to Noxus."

(End of this chapter)