"Look, Mom!"
At the edge of Black Lane, a little boy in a two-tone jacket and knee-length shorts made for running around let out a startled shout, then pointed at the golden sand outside and yelled excitedly.
Beside him stood a woman with large tattoos across her body, dressed in gray-black clothing tinged with blue, the kind of look that absolutely scread Zaun.
She too was staring at the beach in shock, one hand still holding her child's, and then the Zaunite mother slowly lifted her eyes toward the sky.
There was a trace of confusion in her gaze.
All of Zaun had already been moved here by Janna. Above them was the Entresol, above that the Pronade, and beyond that, Piltover was gone.
And there was one more thing that was different now.
Zaun finally had sunlight of its own.
Not sunlight borrowed from what Piltover allowed through, but sunlight that belonged to Zaun alone.
The sunlight falling across their faces was wonderfully warm. It happened to be winter now, and with the sea breeze blowing through, there really was a chill in the air, but the warmth of the sun on their skin brought not just comfort, but also a strange flutter in the chest that was hard to describe.
"Thank Goddess Janna! Thank Lord Logan!"
"So we're really going to live here from now on? Oh my god, I can go fishing whenever I want!"
"We need to get the safety work sorted out. I should talk to Councilor Marna later, I'm good at fixing things!"
"Co on, co on, everyone get out here and look!"
At that shout, most of Zaun spilled outside.
They ca out of Black Lane and stepped onto the sand. So bent down and scooped up handfuls of it, rubbing it between their fingers. So shaded their eyes with a flat hand and looked around. And still more Zaunites were making their way down from the Entresol and the Pronade.
"Co on," Logan said with a smile to Jarvan III and Swain among the crowd on the other side. "This is only the first step. You didn't co to the Twin Cities just to witness the birth of new Zaun, did you? There's sothing even more important to do."
As for Irelia, there was no need to ntion her. The girl had practically co here without using her brain at all. Even now, she had never really seen herself as Ionia's leader. Logan had simply called her over, and Karma had co along as her guardian.
So if Jarvan III and Swain had no objections, the rulers of the smaller nations naturally would not object either.
That said, their eyes kept flickering. It was obvious they were all thinking about sothing.
Co on, after seeing the Twin Cities' goddess pick up and move all of Zaun, of course all kinds of thoughts were springing up in their minds, especially in the rulers of smaller nations that had begun making money but still had very limited territory.
So of them, like the Twin Cities, bordered the sea. So sat high in mountain ranges. Others lay in valleys and basins. But what they all had in common was that they wanted the Twin Cities' help, help from Twin Cities science and magic to transform the condition of their own lands.
If the Twin Cities could reclaim land from the sea, then cutting roads through mountains could not possibly be that difficult for them, right?
For the Twin Cities, sothing like that would not be hard at all, would it?
"This way, please."
Logan had no idea what calculations all those people were making in their heads. Right now, he just wanted to get through everything in front of him.
Inside Zaun's council building, one conference room was packed with more than thirty people.
Logan sat in the chief seat, with l in the second seat beside him. Silco and Jayce, anwhile, were seated among the national leaders.
At the mont, l was the one speaking.
She wore a gold formal dress, her hair neatly styled, her makeup flawless. The gold scale-like accents beneath the corners of her eyes paired beautifully with her dark skin. Smiling as she addressed the room, she said in a clear voice:
"As for the allocation of seats, the Twin Cities intends to divide the Federation into five primary seats, ranked first through fifth. These will be held, in order, by the Twin Cities, Demacia, Noxus, Ionia, and the Freljord.
"In addition to that, we will establish a number of secondary seats, which will serve as proof of each of your nations' entry into the Federation. The rights of a secondary seat will naturally not be equal to those of a primary seat, but they will still be able to legally enjoy the benefits of Federation mbership. For example, each year they will be granted a fixed legal quota for the purchase of Hextech crystals, and every nation holding a secondary seat will also have the opportunity to send talented individuals to the Twin Cities for advanced study.
"And here, I give all of you my word, when the Twin Cities shares knowledge abroad, there will be no restrictions of any kind. If a student completes their studies and wants to return ho, the Twin Cities will never stand in their way."
l paused after that, waiting until the people below had more or less absorbed what she had said. Then she began explaining the rights the primary seats would possess.
Compared to those rights, the privileges of the secondary seats suddenly seed rather ordinary.
Especially once l brought up veto power.
The mont she did, quite a few people in the room could barely stay seated.
Swain was one of them.
His eyes flickered, and he turned to look at Logan, only to see Logan turned sideways, quietly saying sothing while looking at Lissandra. The sight made Swain's mood turn complicated for an instant.
Then Swain glanced over at Jarvan III.
The old emperor was smiling and nodding, his gaze fixed on Logan, filled with admiration.
...
To be fair, Jarvan III really had been right.
Rather than focusing on how to restrain the Twin Cities or hold back its growth, it made far more sense to think about how to help the Twin Cities, and how to climb aboard this speeding carriage before it pulled too far ahead.
This garden can hold many flowers. Stop trying to be the only blossom in bloom. Better to beco the one who protects the whole garden.
The old emperor's words, and the wisdom behind them, had made Swain realize that his own way of thinking truly had begun to drift out of step with the world as it now was.
Swain still held onto the mindset of a militaristic imperial officer.
But the world had changed.
Because of the Twin Cities, transportation had changed. The distance between people was no longer so great. Resources had changed too. When Hextech crystal energy was applied to soil, the magical residue improved the quality of the land, making crops grow larger and sweeter. Food shortages would not be a problem at all.
And more than that, people liked to say humanity had already spread across all of Runeterra, but that was not really true. There were still far too many places humanity had barely touched.
Forget the land for a mont. Just take the ocean, rich with resources. Human developnt there had probably not even reached one percent of its potential.
Outside of Bilgewater, nations like Noxus and Demacia knew next to nothing about the sea.
And because of that, the tis had changed. The old way of thinking Swain had relied on could not keep carrying him forward.
"Now then," l continued, lifting the microphone to her lips, "the Enforcers will hand each of you a pen and a form. Please fill them out and submit them."
She paused, then added, "For the first intake of Federation mbers, there will be no conditions at all. Everyone present here may join the Federation simply by filling out the form. Within the Federation, mbers are not permitted to attack one another. I cannot stop comrcial rivalry, but if anyone dares launch a war of aggression, the Twin Cities will not be lenient."
As soon as l finished speaking, the Enforcers stepped forward and began distributing forms and pens to everyone in the room.
The interesting part was that many eyes turned toward Swain first, so of them openly curious, even teasing, as if eager to see what choice he would make.
When it ca to wars of aggression...
Among the nations present, only a handful could claim they had never waged one.
And Demacia was the only truly powerful military nation among them that still upheld justice and peace.
Ionia did not count. Ionia's lack of wars of aggression had much less to do with principle and much more to do with how isolated it had been. To put it bluntly, before all of this, the Ionians had not even realized just how many lands and nations there were in the world.
"Why are you all looking at ?"
Swain frowned slightly and swept a cold gaze across the few people looking at him with amusent. That one calm glance was enough to make them all drop their heads and start looking at their forms instead.
"Since Noxus has taken its seat here, then of course Noxus will follow the Twin Cities' rules," Swain said evenly.
Then he picked up his pen and began filling out the form.
The nation's na. The size of its territory. The condition of its land. Then military strength. Then the leader's signature. Then a statent of the leader's commitnt, recomndations for the Federation's future, and certain trade route details.
Swain filled in each section one by one.
By the ti he finished, Jarvan III had also completed his form. The two of them handed their papers to the Enforcers standing behind them at nearly the sa mont.
The Enforcers accepted them respectfully with both hands, then carried them up to l.
l folded the papers and placed them into a red wooden box that had already been set in front of her.
Soon, everyone had finished.
Among the thirty-two nations present, not a single one declined to join the Federation.
l smiled at that, then bowed to the room.
Straightening again, she said, "Then the Federation is now officially established. We may not all be one family, but from this mont on, we are partners. I hope all of you will honor this agreent."
Raising one hand, l spoke in a strong, earnest voice:
"This world is far larger than any of you imagine. Even if we spent our entire lives exploring it, we still would not uncover all of Runeterra. But perhaps our descendants will."
"But let's not even talk about that distant future, when we ourselves will already be nothing more than dust in the pages of history. Even if the population continues to grow and resources soday truly do beco scarce, I believe the Twin Cities will still find a solution when that day cos."
"The Twin Cities' goal has never been so tiny patch of land in Runeterra. Our goal is..."
Her eyes were steady as she glanced down at Jayce in the crowd.
Jayce had clenched his fists and was looking right back at her.
A small smile touched l's lips, and then she finished:
"The stars!"
The rulers below were visibly moved by l's words. Jarvan III had even tightened his fists over his knees.
The stars.
No one thought l was boasting, because the Twin Cities had only existed in this form for a few short years, and had already genuinely changed the state of Runeterra after thousands of years of stagnation. So who could say the Twin Cities would never one day reach the heavens?
"All right," l said. "The eting is over. Over the next few days, you're welco to remain in the Twin Cities and work with on the transition. And during that ti, please decide who your nation will send as its representative to the Federation. I'll register the nas in advance and make the necessary preparations to receive them."
"And with that, this session is adjourned."
Everyone in the room began to rise.
Then a voice suddenly rang out.
"Your Majesty Jarvan III, Grand General Swain, Empress Irelia, the three of you stay behind. I have sothing I need to discuss with you."
Logan had stood up without warning and spoken.
Only then did the others notice that the mysterious woman representing the Freljord, the one called Lissandra, was still sitting there with her eyes closed.
No one found that strange.
The primary seats needed to talk among themselves, that was all.
The secondary seats naturally got the hint and cleared out.
Soon, the only people left in the room were Logan, Lissandra, Jarvan III, Swain, Irelia, and the attendants who had co with them.
Karma lifted her chin slightly and looked toward Swain, her expression calm.
Swain did not look back at her. Instead, he looked at Logan, then at Lissandra, and in that instant he understood what they were planning.
"Logan, what is it you wanted to tell us?" the old emperor asked first from his seat.
Logan looked at Jarvan III, nodded, and said, "Yes. It's sothing very important."
"Go ahead," Jarvan III said. With an easy laugh, he added, "We're all on the sa side now, aren't we?"
Logan smiled too.
Irelia, on the other hand, still looked a bit lost. She still had not wrapped her head around Logan calling her an empress just monts ago.
Only after Karma patted her on the shoulder and spoke to her through spirit magic, telling her not to get hung up on it, did Irelia finally refocus on Logan.
"I kept you here because there's sothing I want to ask of all of you."
Logan took a deep breath, stood up, and pointed toward Lissandra at the side.
"Among the people in this room, only His Majesty Jarvan III doesn't know who Lissandra really is, so let give a brief explanation."
The old emperor straightened in his seat.
"Lissandra, in a sense, is one of humanity's oldest progenitors. Ten thousand years ago, Lissandra and her two sisters led humanity against the very world itself, fighting for mankind, "
Logan got no farther than that.
Jarvan III cut him off.
"What did you just say?"
"Ten thousand years ago? Logan, are you sure you didn't misspeak?" The old emperor shot to his feet. Behind him, Garen, Tianna, and Xin Zhao were all staring at Lissandra in utter disbelief.
What kind of joke was that?
Ten thousand years?
Demacia had only existed for a few hundred!
Even Noxus had not yet existed for a thousand years!
And yet this mysterious woman had lived, lived for ten thousand years?
Lissandra opened her eyes, revealing a pair of pale, colorless pupils as she looked calmly at Jarvan III.
She said nothing at all in response to the old emperor's disbelief.
"Yes, you heard correctly, and no, I didn't misspeak," Logan said, pressing both hands down in a calming gesture to signal Jarvan III not to interrupt again. "She really has lived for nearly ten thousand years. But what I want to talk about isn't how long she's lived. It's sothing that happened in the ancient past."
And then he told them everything that had happened in the Freljord ten thousand years ago.
The expressions around the room beca more exaggerated by the second.
Even Katarina had her mouth hanging open, unable to believe what Logan was saying.
And then Logan reached the part about the Void.
"Lissandra did make mistakes," Logan said, "but she doesn't owe anyone an apology. And now True Ice is lting. The Watchers are already showing signs of waking."
"So instead of waiting for the Watchers to recover their full strength and break the seal themselves, we should break the seal first and hit them while they're still weak, catch them completely off guard!"
"That's insane!" Jarvan III shot back, rising to his feet again. Looking at Logan with complete seriousness, he said, "If even half of what you're saying is true, then with our current strength, we are nowhere near enough to stand against those monsters!"
"Uh, Your Majesty, how do I put this..." Logan scratched his cheek. "You just don't know enough yet. Let put it this way. In this room alone, there are three people who are at least comparable to Janna, or stronger than she is."
Jarvan III froze, then blurted out, "Three? There's only one, you, and... her."
The "her" was obviously Lissandra.
Logan smiled and shook his head. "My situation is a little unusual. Under normal circumstances, I'm nowhere near Janna's level."
"The three I an are Lissandra, Swain, and Karma."
Jarvan III turned to look at Swain beside him and saw Swain draw one arm out from beneath his military coat.
It was an arm made entirely of blood-red threads.
Then he looked toward Karma and saw her lazily fanning herself while the green spirit-dragons behind her swayed in the air.
The old emperor's expression imdiately worsened.
What exactly was this supposed to an?
Noxus and Ionia both had godlike power backing them?
Then what about Demacia?
It was not that Demacia had never had gods.
But tis had changed, and Demacia's gods, the Winged Protectors, had long since vanished.
Jarvan III's grandfather had left behind written records of how House Lightshield ca to claim the throne, and those records had ntioned the Winged Protectors by na. Because of that, Jarvan III had always believed those divine sisters were real.
He just had no idea where they had gone.
"Of course, Demacia also has powerful force on its side," Logan said, reading Jarvan III's thoughts.
"Who?"
"Galio."
Jarvan III's expression turned strange. "That's just a petricite statue."
"No," Logan said, shaking his head. "That's a statue with self-awareness. It has a mind of its own."
"As for that, I'll talk to Lux about it later."
"Hold on. What do you an, talk to Lux?" Garen imdiately cut in.
As a devoted older brother, there was no way he was going to sit there and watch his sister get dragged into danger.
"Because your sister is good friends with Galio. Oh, she never told you that, did she?"
...
Garen's face darkened instantly.
Jarvan III's, on the other hand, improved quite a bit.
Because he believed Logan.
And if Logan was right, then Demacia still did have divine strength on its side after all.
Even so, Jarvan III truly had never imagined that a petricite colossus could possess intelligence.
That thing was supposed to be nothing more than a giant war statue carved from petricite.
"And now..."
Logan placed both hands on the table.
Off to the side, Lissandra could feel her heartbeat quickening.
The Watchers were terrifyingly powerful. Even Anivia had shattered herself to pieces and still only managed to bring down a few of them.
But Lissandra did not believe her current self was weaker than Anivia had been.
And beyond that, there were so many demigod-level powers willing to help.
And Logan, this man had many mighty gods standing behind him.
That beautiful pink-haired woman, the white asura, the tiny little demon, every one of them stood among the best of the demigods.
This war would not be lost.
And then Logan looked at them all with complete seriousness and said:
"Let's go fight the Void together!"
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