Chapter 334: Team invitation, to whom should it be sent?
Two weeks passed after Urgot's death.
For the past two weeks, the province of Barou has maintained a delicate calm.
Under the control of General Lester, the Noxian army no longer massacred civilians at will, but at the same time, more and more troops were concentrated on this island from other provinces.
And their search for the whereabouts of the leader never stopped for a moment.
To date, most of the Barue Province has been traveled by Imperial scouts, leaving only a few pristine and closed mountainous areas, including the Wuji Mountains, that have not been searched.
There is not much time left for the leaders.
"Teacher Swain, this is probably the situation..."
In Yipu River Port, Lester sat alone in his command office.
Through the red-eyed crow, he once again secretly contacted his teacher Swain who was thousands of miles away.
"Although I didn't give the nobles any evidence of Urgot's death , the old foxes in the command will definitely be suspicious of me because of this."
"It is said that they are planning to transfer General Du Kecao from the aristocratic faction to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Ionian army. He will be my immediate superior and will be responsible for the elimination of the Barou leaders."
The Kekao family is an old noble family with a long history in the empire, and is the elite among the nobles.
The current head of the family, Du Kecao, is not only an outstanding war commander of the empire, but also the leading assassin master of Noxus.
Of course, compared to this General Du Kecao...
Levi should be more familiar with his two daughters named Katarina and Cassiopeia, and an apprentice named Talon.
In short... this old general who is proficient in assassination and command will obviously not be as easily fooled as the brainless Urgot.
"Today, I can no longer cover up the whereabouts of those leaders."
"The Imperial regiment stationed in Tiwaser has already planned to search the Wuji Mountain area, and I can't stop them. The base of the Wind Leader hidden in Wuji Village will soon be completely exposed to the Imperial army."
Once the leader's hiding place is exposed, a battle between him and the leader is inevitable.
Lester wasn't worried about himself. Of course, he wouldn't hesitate to kill the leader.
What he was worried about was that the war here would spread to Zaun and Piltover, and that Swain, the absolute core of their coup plan and who had been transferred to become the Governor of Piltover, would be implicated.
"So, Mr. Swain..." Lester asked carefully, "Judging from the time, you should have arrived in Piltover for some time, and you also had a secret meeting with President Levi of the Leader."
“The students want to know whether your negotiations with the leader have yielded any results?”
Lester's tone was a little hurried.
It is only a matter of time before Wuji Village is exposed, and he really can't hold on any longer.
“Calm down.” The red-eyed crow opened its beak and delivered Swain’s hoarse but firm voice: “Don’t worry, I’ve already met with Guild Master Levi.”
It's more than just meeting.
He almost asked Li Wei to introduce him to the sect and changed his allegiance on the spot.
Of course, Swain would not tell these words to his students.
Just as he and Levi had discussed before, the coup plan that had already begun could not be abandoned halfway and had to be continued.
He still had to continue to observe whether these good students of his, these progressive military officers who promised to work with him to "respect the emperor, fight against traitors, and eradicate traitors", would be able to keep up with his pace of progress in the future.
So Swain just revealed: "President Levi has agreed to many of my conditions."
"Oh?" Lester asked expectantly, "Did they agree to withdraw from Ionia?"
From Lester's perspective, what he was looking forward to more was for Swain to persuade the Wind Leader to let these nosy guys get out of here as soon as they had taken advantage of him. The farther the better, preferably directly back to Zaun.
He could turn a blind eye and even help the leader secretly withdraw from the province of Barue.
In this way, war between the two sides can be avoided at the source.
but……
“President Levi doesn’t think so,” Swain said. “He is not willing to give up the interests of the Leader in Ionia.”
"Of course, in the words of the Leader, they will not abandon the Ionian people who have been trampled in the war."
In fact, both statements are correct.
The Leader has witnessed and even experienced the suffering of the Ionians himself - this suffering includes the oppression brought by the Noxian invaders and the exploitation of Ionia's traditional order for nearly ten thousand years.
As a result, they couldn't bear to retreat, and even less wanted to retreat.
Their goal naturally changed from helping the weak and the weak to changing the world and saving people.
On the other hand, after Levi fully understood the experience of "Performance King" Riven in Barue Province, he became more aware of:
If we want to engage in struggle, we should go to the places where the contradictions are most acute.
Only by continuing to develop in Ionia can Goddess Janna spread faith and gather divine power at the fastest speed.
Now they have established their prestige, reputation and brand effect in the province of Barue, identified the right publicity track, grasped the users' pain points, penetrated the users' minds, formed a fission-like information dissemination chain among the target population, and created a positive feedback cycle ecology of brand, traffic and revenue.
To put it bluntly…
Now the reputation of "Believe in Janna and you will be saved" has spread throughout Ionia - although this slogan is very inconsistent with the spiritual concept of the Leader, it must be said that the propaganda effect of this brainwashing slogan is very strong.
Now, people throughout the province of Baruo, and even throughout southern Ionia, are seeking various ways to learn the theories of the Leader.
Even if Levi does nothing, as long as he continues to ensure the existence of the Leader Association in Barue, Gana can continue to gain the power of faith.
The struggle situation is so good, he certainly can't give up halfway.
Therefore, whether from the perspective of faith, morality or interests, the Leader will never withdraw from Ionia.
"This... is damn!" Lester was very unhappy with the result: "If they stay here and don't leave, what should we do?"
If the leader does not leave, war is inevitable.
"Then let's fight." Swain said, "I have reached a consensus with President Levi."
"No matter how fiercely the two sides fight in Ionia, the Zaun Leader and the Imperial garrison in Piltover will always maintain peace and restraint."
"I understand, teacher." Lester nodded thoughtfully.
As long as the Leader can ensure that the war does not spread to Swain, their coup plan will not be greatly affected.
"Then how should I treat the leader next?" Lester asked tentatively.
Swain replied: "War is inevitable, and there is nothing you can do. All you have to do next is to be a good imperial soldier and obey the orders of the High Command—"
"Of course, be careful to preserve your own strength. Don't make too many sacrifices for the war started by the nobles."
"Understood!" Lester nodded solemnly.
He completed his report to Swain and received the instructions he wanted from his teacher.
But he hesitated for a moment, and then added a few more words:
"Teacher Swain," Lester asked, "You have been to Zaun in person and met President Levi... Do you think they will pose a threat to the empire in the future?"
“……” The red-eyed crow was silent for a while.
Swain on the other end of the phone seemed to be thinking, or hesitating about something.
Finally, Swain's voice sounded again: "Lester. Since you asked this, it seems that you already have the answer in your heart."
"Yes." Lester gritted his teeth and said, "After these days of observation and understanding, students believe that the Leader is our real enemy in the future."
"If they can seduce so many Ionians today, they can seduce so many Noxians tomorrow - this is not speculation."
"The head of the Ionian Leaders' branch, the woman who calls herself Orianna, is actually Riven, a former warrior of the empire who was personally commended by the emperor!"
With Urgot's death, this shocking news quickly spread among the Noxian army.
Only then did everyone realize that the leader of the Feng bandits, whom they had been looking for for more than a month, was actually their former comrade-in-arms and a former hero of the empire.
Even the Imperial heroes can vote for Janna, then...
"How can the Empire resist the infiltration of the Wind Leader?" Lester said with great sorrow: "If the Empire is filled with rebels bewitched by the Wind Leader from top to bottom, can Noxus continue to exist in the future?"
Swain: “…”
"Teacher?" Lester felt that the teacher's reaction was a little abnormal.
“You are right, Lestat,” Swain replied. “The Windleader is indeed a formidable foe.”
"But we must first stabilize the country before we can fight against foreign enemies. If we don't solve the problems within the empire first, we won't be able to face the threat brought to us by the Leader."
"Yes..." Lester calmed down a little. He also understood this.
However, he felt somewhat uneasy as he watched Leader grow rapidly these days like a balloon being blown up .
He instinctively wanted to do something to eliminate this huge threat in advance.
"Don't worry, Lester." Swain seemed confident of victory. His steady and powerful voice also made Lester quietly dispel his confusion: "This is all in my plan."
"I will definitely do what I promised you—"
Swain did not lie, because he promised:
"I will definitely give you a brand new Noxus!"
…
Not long after, Wuji Village.
"Everyone, Zaun has sent us important information—"
Riven was holding a blue bird avatar that Levi had given her for long-distance communication, and she said to the main cadres of the base with a serious look:
"According to reliable information, after continuous reinforcement and carpet search, the Noxians have searched most areas of the Baluo Province."
"They are now planning to search in the Wuji Mountains. They should find Wuji Village and us soon."
"The flames of war are about to reach our doorstep."
This sensational news did not actually cause much reaction among the leading cadres present at the scene.
After all, they stayed here to prepare for war. Everyone had already prepared themselves for the possibility that Noxus would come knocking on their doorstep.
The people were not worried about this.
However, Master Jie, who had already officially joined the Leader, questioned with some concern:
"President Riven, is this information reliable?"
"The intelligence sent by Kayn didn't mention this matter yet."
Kayn still lurks beside Lestat and serves as his personal disciple.
Even Kayn hasn't had time to collect this information yet. How could Zuan, who is thousands of miles away, get this military intelligence?
Is this reliable?
"The information was delivered by President Levi himself." Riven said, "It can't be wrong."
"Now we have to focus on preparing for the game." That's easy to say. In the past two weeks, the leader has been preparing for this.
"On the other hand, according to President Levi:"
“He hopes that we can also take this opportunity to seek assistance and cooperation from Ionia’s local resistance forces, and form a united front against Noxus.”
"United front?" Everyone seemed to be thinking about it.
indeed……
The Leader is indeed not weak now, but it is still too much for him to confront the main force of the Noxian Empire head-on on his own.
If we can reach cooperation with more local Ionian forces like we did with Wuji Sword Sect and Shadow Sect, and even absorb their aspiring people to join the Leader... then the Leader's power will be further strengthened, and the military pressure to resist Noxus will be much less.
"Then..." Riven, Fia, Jie, Yi, and the leaders present looked at each other: "Who should we join forces with? Does President Levi have any suggestions?"
"No." As the number one leader of the Central Command, Levi certainly couldn't live on the front line of Ionia every day and work as a scout.
He knew that his understanding of Ionia was far less than that of his Ionian comrades, so he simply gave up his tradition of "micro-control" and handed over the initiative of decision-making to the leaders of Ionia.
"This..." Everyone couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
But this question is actually not difficult to think about.
Although there are many resistance forces in Ionia, only a few of them are truly powerful.
First up are the Monastery of the Harmony, the Eternal, the Shojin, and the Silana Monastery, which are the four most powerful sects in Ionia.
But they can just pass.
Because these sect masters are even more homebodies than those of the Wuji Sect, and more patient than turtles.
For example, Master Karma of the Everlasting Sect.
As the human representative of the Soul of Ionia, her strength is so strong that with a casual "Q", she can destroy an entire main battleship of the Noxian Empire in the blink of an eye.
Karma also used this powerful strength to easily repel the Noxian invaders who attempted to invade the Eternal Sect.
This was supposed to be a battle to boost morale and establish authority.
But the problem is...
As soon as the battle was over, the monks showed their dissatisfaction with Karma.
They believed she had done something terribly wrong. She had disturbed the spiritual harmony of the land, brought dishonor to the Karmas who had come before her, and tainted her own immortal soul, and even the souls of those who followed her...
It’s as if if Karma didn’t kill anyone just now, Noxus wouldn’t kill anyone.
Therefore, Kalma and the Masters of Eternal Cun, who should have been the main force against the Norse, retreated to the Palace of Eternal Cun with their followers after a counterattack forced in self-defense, and went to practice Taoism in their hometown.
The real masters are all off the computer.
As a result, Irelia, now 15 years old, inexplicably became the top fighting force in the Ionian resistance.
As for the other three major sects, the Kinkou, Shoji, and the Silana Monastery, they are actually not much better than the Eternal Cun -
Although they
Expecting them to go against tradition and take the initiative, or even travel thousands of miles to help the leader...that's not very realistic.
"Let's go find the Presidian resistance. Miss Irelia should be able to help us." The leaders suggested.
"If it doesn't work, you can try the Navoli Brotherhood." No matter what, the current Navoli Brotherhood is still on the side of justice.
Moreover, with the help of Jie, a good disciple, they may be able to ask for reinforcements from Master Ku Shuo.
"Well, we can try either." Riven nodded: "Then let's try to contact the Presidium Resistance and the Navoli Brotherhood to see their reaction."
The discussion soon produced results.
The Presidium Resistance Army and the Navoli Brotherhood, the two most powerful forces with the most resolute will to resist and the most proactive style of action, are the best targets for unity for the Leader now.
At this time...
Master Jie thought deeply for a while.
Finally, he said with hesitation: "Perhaps, we still have a third force to choose from."
"Who?" Everyone looked over in confusion.
"The Order of the Balance." Jie slowly said an answer that had already been ruled out: "My former fellow disciple."
