Twin Cities: Who says scientists can't be conquerors?

Chapter 65 "Cave"

It must be admitted that the mech created by Aaron, although named "Shadow Chaser Tactical Mech Zaun", can easily complete "tactical" tasks.

However, it's actually far from being "Zu'an" enough—

At the very least, Aaron didn't take into account Zaun's low altitude or the possibility of him being flooded, and didn't equip the mech with modules to cope with amphibious environments.

This directly led to a serious consequence:

After the Cheng Ying mech, which possessed aerospace combat capabilities, was submerged by the vast ocean torrent, Aaron, sitting in the cockpit, relied on the well-functioning oxygen circulation system in the cockpit to maintain his breathing.

But Jess, who was stuck in the trunk, was in real trouble...

"Cough cough cough! Cough!"

Jess was limp and painfully propped himself up on his elbows.

This position was the only one that made Jess feel a little better.

He had just been given abdominal pressure by Aaron and had vomited a lot of dirty water, but the feeling of suffocation in his lungs still lingered, leaving Jess unable to even speak.

Are you feeling better?

Aaron's voice came from behind Jess.

He looked much more presentable than Jess, not only was he completely dry, but his hair also looked perfectly styled.

"I cough cough, thank you... cough!"

"Alright, stop talking, let me do it."

Seeing that Jess was about to express his gratitude, Aaron, feeling somewhat guilty, quickly interrupted Jess—he could have brought Jess into the cockpit as well, but the flood came too suddenly, and he forgot.

"Let me tell you about what happened today... or rather, what happened last night."

Aaron sat down cross-legged.

He spread his hands and briefly recounted to Jess how he killed Urgot in "Sinking Hook," and how the explosion caused seawater to flood in.

After saying that, Aaron made a joke to help Jess relax a bit, saying that he and Jess were probably on the missing persons list now, and that they could sit at the same table with Caitlin from now on.

"Hmm..."

Jess finally caught his breath.

After listening to Aaron's story, his eyes showed not only the relief of escaping death, but also a hint of unconcealed worry.

After Jess sat up, he suddenly realized something very serious:

"Just how many people died?"

He stared at Aaron, looking uneasy, and even his voice betrayed his caution.

Jess could easily guess without even thinking that once the surging seawater flooded into the trench area, the law enforcement officers hanging outside the "sinking hook" would have no chance of survival.

Those law enforcement officers who resolutely followed Jayce into the Ditch, along with the local residents of Zaun...

Jess can hardly believe how many lives were taken by that colossal wave that nearly killed him!

"You actually paid attention to this first?"

Aaron asked a question with a somewhat strange expression.

When he watched the videos before, he only vaguely felt that Jess, who was usually so confident that he was a bit arrogant, might have a little bit of a "saintly heart".

But when he saw Jayce, who had just recovered from near death, ask a question that had nothing to do with Piltover or himself, but rather how many people would be affected by the disaster, Aaron couldn't help but feel a sense of respect for Jayce.

This guy is genuinely not very cunning, but he's also genuinely not malicious.

"Actually, you should be able to guess without me saying it."

"This flood will at least engulf..."

Aaron was clearly not as emotional as Jess, and calmly extended his two open palms.

"Five, five thousand people?!"

"It's countless people."

Aaron corrected Jess: "I only have ten fingers, so that's all I can show."

"Don't joke around at a time like this!!"

Jess suddenly became agitated.

He coughed and pounded the ground twice, finding it unacceptable that Aaron was joking around at a time like this—in a way, while Aaron was influencing Jinx, Jinx had also "corrupted" Aaron quite severely.

"Alright, that's enough."

Seeing that Jess had no intention of relaxing, Aaron decided to stop deliberately provoking him.

He dusted himself off, stood up, and then reached out to Jess, indicating that he wanted to help him up.

Anyway, thank you for saving me.

Jess staggered a few steps before standing up.

He grabbed Aaron's hand and shook it violently: "Including the time Caitlin was kidnapped, I owe you a lot."

"Don't worry, I'll go and inform the council right now and have them begin disaster relief immediately, and then..."

"I'm really impressed by you."

"what?"

Jess was stunned when he saw Aaron suddenly roll his eyes and shake off his hand.

He thought he hadn't promised enough, so he quickly caught up and added:

"I will absolutely supervise the distribution of relief supplies myself!"

"Furthermore, I will be on-site to oversee the disaster relief efforts. Even if it's simply to repay you, I will never let the people of Zu'an who are suffering from the disaster be let down. They must all be..."

"Is that the main point?"

Aaron interrupted Jess for the second time.

He now wanted to retract his earlier admiration for Jess.

because……

"If you just looked at where you were standing right now, you wouldn't have said those things!"

Aaron stretched out his arm, gesturing for Jess to look around:

"Is this Piltover? Do you recognize this place? Do you really think we're saved?"

Aaron stomped his foot in exasperation, sending up a cloud of dust from the dry sand beneath his feet.

Beside him and Jayce was neither the gloomy, dark setting of Zaun nor the bright, orderly skyscrapers of Piltover.

Conversely, within the limits of Aaron and Jess's vision, apart from the exhausted Shadow Mech standing quietly to the side, and the "ceiling" tens of meters high above their heads...

All I could see was endless yellow sand and desert!

……

Jess sat in the cockpit, clinging to the back of Aaron's seat.

He stared intently at the rapidly retreating scene outside, feeling the push-back sensation brought by the low-altitude flight of the Cheng Ying mecha.

Even though the scene before his eyes was always the same monotonous yellow sand, his worries outside and his earlier fear of mechs had long since transformed into a deep curiosity:

How on earth did Aaron manage to build this behemoth called the "Shadow Reflection Mech"?!

Jess couldn't help but ask himself this question.

As one of Piltover's top scientists, Jayce has had little to do with anything since he overcame the problem of Hextech Crystal instability and created a Hextech Gem that can reliably supply power.

According to his original plan, he was supposed to deliver a speech that would be remembered for generations (in Jayce's opinion) at today's Progress Day celebration, holding a Hextech Gem, so that the whole world could see that Piltover was worthy of being called the "City of Progress," and that he, Jayce, was worthy of being called the "Star of Piltover."

However, after witnessing Aaron's Shadow Mech, even if he still had the chance to do so, he suddenly didn't want to let it go so easily.

Putting everything else aside, just considering the mech that Aaron created, Jess believes he couldn't possibly build it at the moment!

This cognitive shock in his professional field greatly stimulated Jess's competitive spirit and thirst for knowledge, making him feel as if he had become the student who conducted experiments at Piltover University again, with new inspirations constantly emerging in his mind.

So much so that Jess no longer cared much about the crucial question of his and Aaron's life or death: where exactly was this place?

"Stop touching me, and don't move me around."

Aaron suddenly warned Jess in an annoyed tone, causing Jess to awkwardly laugh and withdraw his hand from pressing a certain button.

"No, it's just that I'm a little... curious."

"I understand curiosity, but can you answer me first: do you know where we are right now?"

"Uh, this."

Aaron kept bringing up the matter and asked Jess about it again.

That shut Jess up.

This time, however, he wasn't questioning him; he genuinely wanted to know the answer and see what new discoveries Jess might make.

After flying at low altitude for so long in the desert, Aaron could clearly see through the mech's instruments that they had advanced a full fifty kilometers.

What does this mean?

If he and Jess were still near the Twin Cities, then that distance would be enough for him to cross the Bridge of Progress a hundred times over!

Despite walking such a long distance, Aaron still hadn't found any landmarks or anything like an exit.

This is not scientific at all.

Could it be that when the seawater was flooding in and he couldn't see anything outside the cockpit, he accidentally triggered some kind of magical mark, and then...

Have we arrived at Bandle, the city of the Yordles?

wrong.

Bandle City is a fluid spiritual space, so it's impossible for it to have a ceiling like a cave.

And there won't be endless yellow sand anywhere...etc.

I don't think I'll get swept into the Sea of ​​Watchers, then circle around the arena and enter the Sea of ​​Conquerors, and now I'll be swept into Shurima, right?

Shurima has a lot of sand!

Hmm, that's not right either.

If the mechs actually circled the entire arena, putting aside whether the oxygen circulation system could even hold up, just passing through Bilgewater and the Shadow Isles, he and Jess would probably be chopped into mincemeat by the local thugs there...

Bang Bang —

Aaron smacked himself twice on the head, promptly shutting down the "Jinx paranoia virus" in his mind and stopping his random, wandering thoughts.

He has now flown at a low altitude of seventy kilometers.

But the scene outside was still an endless expanse of yellow sand, like being lost in a maze.

Could it be that I've really entered some kind of dead end, and I'll never get out of it in this lifetime?

He asked Jess again, "Did you find anything?" After receiving a negative answer, Aaron couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

I don't know where I am, how to get out, or what dangers might lie ahead...

If all these uncertainties and unknowns can't be resolved, Aaron feels like he's going to be driven crazy... Wait, what?!

"Jace! Look!"

Aaron suddenly shouted excitedly, pointing ahead.

"Look, isn't there a door over there?!"