The twin cities that had experienced the Great Revolution of Zuan were revitalized.

The two cities are once again united as they were when they were first founded, driving the rapid progress of Hextech.

The tax revenue from the port of Piltover is the common heart of both cities, and all ships passing through it are required to pay a gold hex, which is quickly invested in the research of Hextech.

Although the research talents of the two cities have suffered a serious loss because of the monopoly of the scholars for hundreds of years, after all, the foundation is still there, and with sufficient financial support, a large number of Hextech projects have been restarted - it is foreseeable that the two cities are likely to lead the change again in the near future.

However, just when everything was on track, something strange happened to Piltover.

……………………

Summer.

Illuminated by the Hex's searchlights, the port of Piltover was like daylight – countless money-hungry merchants and their ships paid their taxes in the nightfall, and then hurried through the Gates of Cana (a huge arch that spanned the banks of the canal and was originally called the Gate of the Sun) to where they wanted to go.

The tax office of the canal is a real veteran, and they can easily judge the authenticity of the bills in the hands of the merchants, and can also tell at a glance the approximate load of the ships and whether the merchants have concealed the goods according to the waterline.

Love, who is on duty today, is one such veteran.

All the best.

After collecting his taxes and letting go of a ship from Uzeris carrying mineral salts, Love loosened his collar - although not as hot as the desert of Shurima, Piltover had a very hot summer, and the heat would not be relieved even late at night.

No way, the oceanic climate - the sea is hot.

I wish I could get off work quickly so I could head to Zaun's bar — it's just cool enough to be cool under sea level without even turning on the hex air conditioner that eats hex crystals.

Waving his baton glowing red, Love motioned for the ship ahead to stop.

Not...... A ship from Bilgewater?

Oddly enough, Bilgewater's ships rarely pass through the canal!

Those pirates rarely bothered the Demacians......

Then, something even stranger happened.

The big ship, which appeared to be from Bilgewater, not only did not mean to stop and anchor, but even sped up.

The wind followed, and Love's new hat was blown straight into the water, and he himself could barely stand.

At this time, Love realized that the ship was going to rush the card!

Damn it!

Love immediately took the whistle hanging on his chest in his mouth, then puffed out his cheeks and blew it down hard.

"Toot-"

The shrill whistle pierced the night sky of Piltover and also broke the calm of the canal.

When the person in charge of the canal gate heard the whistle, he directly pressed the button to close the gate.

Not far in front of Love, half of the gate under the water slowly bulged upward, while the other half of the gate on Cana's Gate quickly fell.

The two gates were cast of alloy, and although they were badly corroded, they were definitely sturdy enough - in Love's opinion, the ship was dead!

It's not like no pirate has ever done something like that, and those guys who rushed to the sluice gate without exception rushed to the closed gate, and the ship was wrecked and killed.

Seeing that the floodgates were about to close, Love lowered his whistle and opened his mouth to scream.

"Slow down! If you die, no one will lose money to repair the floodgates! And my hat! ”

Then, something happened that made Love almost stare at him.

Beneath the sea level, several thick tentacles stretched out, half of which held the upward lower gate, and the other half held the downward upper gate.

Love rubbed his eyes.

What the heck?

The power of those two gates is very clear - every closure means the complete scrapping of a large number of Hex Crystals - and now, the closing of the gates is actually stopped by a group of tentacles?!

And while Love was in a daze, the Bilgewater ship had already taken the opportunity to slip through the gates.

Soon, Catherine personally led the team, the Leather City garrison arrived and directly blocked the scene, and the bewildered Love left work early.

Despite all this strange thing, Love returned to Zaun's bar - for a bachelor like himself, it would be better to go to the bar and sit down if he had to talk about Hexcrystal turning on the air conditioner when he got home.

(Besides, there are so many cute little ladies in the bar...... ）

Arriving at his favorite bar, Love sat at the bar and ordered a cold beer.

It was still past three o'clock in the middle of the night, and there were many people in the bar, but few were sober - Love's eyes expertly roamed over the disheveled ladies, and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Hey, Love, you left work early today?" The bartender handed over a cold beer, "Guys with thieves and no guts, they don't remember anything now, you can ...... Hmm~"

"Ah......" Love paused for a moment and quickly diverted the subject, "over there...... Well, sort of. ”

"Tell me about it." The bartender lowered his voice, "What's the matter, I heard that the Picheng garrison has been dispatched." ”

"You're pretty well-informed." Love shook his head, "There are ships rushing to ......"

"Hey—what did I think?" The bartender pouted, "And hit the floodgates?" Every year, there are a few idiots—"

"No, it's not." Love's voice lowered, "They succeeded......"

The bartender's eyes widened.

Looking at the bartender's stunned expression, Love had a very smug look on his face, as if to say that you know something.

"I'm invited!" As if he couldn't get used to Love's appearance, the bartender handed over another glass of cold beer, "Tell me, what's going on?" ”

Love drank the cold beer in his hand, then picked up the second one—and with the strength of the wine, he told the whole story in vivid detail.

Although it is inevitably exaggerated and added to the vinegar, in general the narrative is quite clear.

When he was done, Love's second beer was gone, and he fell straight to the bar and began to fall asleep.

The bartender narrowed his eyes slightly, then asked the boss for leave and helped Love towards his home—apparently this was not the first time that he had been drunk with two beers.

After sending Love home, the bartender took a napkin from Love's house, wrote down a code with a special marker, and threw it into a mailbox on the way back to the bar.

In the afternoon of the next day, Svein received a message from the Twin Cities.