Malphegor
patreon
Arcane: TTB: Ch. 28
🕑 Added 2025-02-01 22:20:25 +0000 UTC"General Lester, welcome to Zaun." Cipher stepped forward with a warm smile, his youth even more apparent in the harsh lighting.
This boy runs a city? The intelligence reports weren't exaggerating. Lester studied the young mayor's face carefully. "Ci... Mayor, you're even younger than I imagined."
He was not quite used to addressing him as "Mayor." Although he had learned from intelligence that Cipher was young, actually meeting him in person still made Lester feel surprised.
There was an odd sense of unreality.
At Cipher's age, Lester was still being used as cannon fodder in a slave camp, while Cipher was already in charge of an entire city.
The contrast made his head spin a bit.
"I trust your journey wasn't too unpleasant?" Cipher asked, gesturing to a nearby chair.
Lester's lips twitched. "Your city has quite the welcome party. The chemical fog was... memorable."
"Our city's unique perfume," Cipher said with a hint of self-mockery. "Strong enough to make even Noxian warriors pause."
"Your city has many..."
Before Lester could elaborate, a shadow fell across the room. A man with a mechanical eye stepped forward.
"General Lester, let me introduce you to Zaun's First Deputy Mayor, Silco. He's in charge of taxes and customs," Cipher said, pointing to Silco.
"General Lester, welcome to Zaun." Silco, fully aware of Lester's background, could only repeat the formalities without much substance.
"Deputy Mayor Silco, I agree with your philosophy of persisting in armed struggle. Compromising doesn't bring dignity; only force earns respect," Lester remarked, clearly having a thorough understanding of Silco's stance and hitting the mark with his compliment.
This was also Lester's deliberate attempt to project Noxus' strength through intelligence to gain the upper hand in the conversation.
Swain had specifically sent him to Zaun precisely because Lester had limited political acumen.
"Zaun doesn't have any ports or docks, so why has Mayor Cipher established customs?" he suddenly asked as if he had just remembered something.
His eyes never left Cipher's face.
The boy didn't even flinch.
Most people, even hardened warriors, found Lester's battle-scarred face and predatory stare unsettling. But Cipher met his gaze with an ease that spoke of either foolishness or absolute confidence.
"Customs is really just a label. It's used to collect tariffs on imports and exports." Cipher's tone remained casual.
Tariffs were something all nations imposed, though Zaun's terminology was a bit peculiar. Lester immediately understood. Beyond collecting taxes, customs duties could protect domestic markets through tax rates.
For a city-state government based on industry, it was indeed an essential administrative department.
"If I'm not mistaken, that Bridge of Progress must be the main trade route between Zaun and Piltover," he speculated, his voice carrying a hint of challenge. "I noticed the checkpoints set up by Piltover's enforcers, but it seems I didn't see your customs officials."
"For now, we pick our battles carefully," Cipher replied, his eyes meeting Lester's.
"Noxus could help change that... immediately."
"Some changes are better made gradually, wouldn't you agree?"
Cipher paused before continuing, "And to be honest, I didn't want to provoke Piltover's councilors too soon. At present, Zaun isn't strong enough to confront Piltover head-on."
Lester was going to stay in Zaun for a while, so it wasn't something he could hide. In fact, his arrival was something Cipher had intentionally requested from Swain.
The purpose was to use the intimidating presence of Noxus as a temporary deterrent against Piltover, buying Zaun time to develop peacefully.
Judging from how easily Lester pinpointed Silco's ideology, Swain had clearly already gathered intelligence on Zaun. With Swain's abilities, Cipher wouldn't be surprised if Swain even knew the color of his underwear.
"Do you need help? We Noxians are more than happy to assist our allies. You don't have to worry about Piltover, they wouldn't dare defy us."
"Your policies could be implemented smoothly, not just your customs policies," Lester added with a subtle smile, emphasizing the word "policies."
"General Lester, all you need to do is stay in Zaun for a while and test the new weapons and equipment we've developed for Noxus. As for everything else, Zaun can handle it on its own," Cipher replied with a chuckle, rejecting Lester's proposal without hesitation.
The last thing he wanted was to end up like Caitlyn from the second season of the original story, stuck roasting over a fire, manipulated by Noxus.
Heavy boots echoed on the wooden floor as Sevika entered the room, her presence immediately drawing every eye. "Deputy Mayor Sevika, you met her on your way here. She's responsible for maintaining order in Zaun," Cipher continued, skillfully steering the conversation away from the previous topic.
"Your men seemed surprised by our security measures," Sevika said bluntly, her arms crossed.
"Surprised... and impressed. You run a tight operation," Lester responded, genuine respect in his voice.
"We've doubled patrols in the lower sectors," Sevika stated.
"Expecting trouble?"
"In Zaun, we prefer to prevent trouble rather than react to it," Cipher cut in smoothly.
"Hmm, Deputy Mayor Sevika really has the gaze of a fierce wolf. She's clearly a strong warrior," Lester remarked, this time with genuine admiration.
On his way to The Last Drop, he had seen Zaun's current state with his own eyes. To put it mildly, it was far more shocking and horrifying than the intelligence reports suggested.
The air was toxic.
The water was toxic.
And even the land itself was poisoned.
The harsh environment was bad enough, but Lester didn't even want to comment on the food.
It was too clean and hygienic...
Zaun's living conditions were worse than what he experienced in the slave camps as cannon fodder. Even Noxian slave soldiers got to eat proper meals. If they achieved merits in battle, they could become formal soldiers; with great achievements, they could even become nobles, just like Lester himself.
Not to forget, Noxian slave soldiers had something to hope for. But in Zaun?
Based on their intelligence, if it weren't for Cipher's sudden rise and if Noxus hadn't been planning to conquer the both cities, this city's people had no hope, only gut-wrenching despair.
Before Cipher's efforts, there were mining jobs with a non-stop 16-hour work schedule, seven days a week. Three years guaranteed death. And yes, even child laborers were subjected to this same work system. Mining. They lasted about a year before dying.
Humans were treated like disposable resources.
Even for children sent to their deaths, Noxian child soldiers were treated better than Zaun's child laborers.
Lester remembered the mines he'd passed on his way here. The hollow-eyed children emerging from the depths, skin stained with chemicals that would never wash away. Some couldn't have been more than three or four.
Even in Noxus, they at least waited until a child could hold a weapon before sending them to die.
Zaun really industrialized despair.
Honestly, in such a wretched place, Lester felt that staying alive required more courage than dying. Death seemed like an easier release. So he could somewhat understand why Sevika and her enforcers were so bold, daring to glare at a Noxian elite squad.
If he were in their shoes, he'd be bold too. He'd even dare to glare at Darius. When life was worse than death, who cared? Anyone who tried to posture in front of him, even an emperor, would get slapped so hard they'd go flying.
People in a place like this wouldn't fear bloodshed or sacrifice. Whoever could bring them hope would earn the loyalty of a fanatical army of warriors.
Lester had once envied Piltover, the reserved territory of the Iron Wolf. But now, he thought, if someone had the ability to rebuild Zaun and give its people hope, they would gain a stable source of fearless, ferocious warriors.
This would be more valuable to Noxus than mere wealth. After all, Noxian nobility was built on military strength.
He was beginning to understand why his mentor valued Cipher and why he had been given this special assignment.
Swain intended to use the conflict of both cities as a testing ground to gather insights for future imperial development strategies.
"And welcome to Zaun," Sevika said, clearly unused to political theater. Struggling to find the right words, she finally forced out a stiff greeting, interrupting Lester's complex thoughts.
"The welcome ceremony is over. General Lester, let's get straight to business," Cipher interjected with a smile. "Thanks to the steel you brought, we can finally put our newly developed weapons to use."
Without waiting to gauge Lester's thoughts, he didn't even offer him a drink of water before dragging him off to the newly established weapons testing range.
He had noticed Lester's subtle calculations but didn't care.
As long as Zaun could survive the toughest early development phase, establish its industrial foundation, and steal technology from the Apex world using his "cheat," mechanical divinity would be within reach.
Piltover thought Cipher was playing on the first level.
Swain thought he was on the third level.
But in reality, Cipher was on NG+, guaranteed to win!
