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

Chapter 69 Please

"Have you been here before?"

Jess looked at Aaron with a puzzled expression, his brows furrowed as he asked the question he couldn't understand the most.

From his perspective, Aaron first stared blankly, then his expression changed dramatically, and finally he suddenly stopped mentioning anything about "staying vigilant" and went straight to pilot the mecha to push open the door.

The whole process was not only bizarre, but also completely illogical.

If Jess hadn't seen that Aaron was in a perfectly normal state, no different from before, he would have even suspected that Aaron had suddenly fallen ill.

"No, how could I have been here?"

Aaron asked in surprise.

He denied Jess's "absurd" speculation, and then maneuvered his mech to the door, skillfully beginning to examine the inconspicuous ancient Shurima symbols on the door frame.

"First light up the sun, then the moon, and finally light up life, prosperity, and rivers in that order, and then..."

Aaron whispered words that Jess couldn't understand at all, and made the mecha's fingers touch different places on the door frame, which made Jess both confused and curious.

As Aaron moved, the sandstone gate, which had been tightly closed, suddenly began to tremble violently, as if it had been properly activated, and dust and gravel fell down in a flurry.

After Aaron activated all the previously inconspicuous ancient Shuriman symbols on the doorframes in the correct order and method, something even more miraculous happened—

The transparent wall that had previously blocked the mecha now seemed to have shed its invisibility cloak, revealing its true form:

Countless exquisite reliefs are coiled around a huge wall that completely blocks the way forward.

The reliefs continue, converging at the gate to reveal the image of a man in a long robe.

The man held a slender staff, smiling as he looked down at Aaron and Jess standing in front of the door. The lifelike portrayal made him seem as if he were still alive!

"He is the exorcist Kalikan..."

Aaron instinctively uttered the man's name.

During his conversation with Janna's avatar, Aaron fully understood the meaning that name once represented—

Kalikhan, the personal exorcist of Emperor Azir.

Shurima's most powerful spellcaster, a ruthless figure who could rival the Ascended with his breathtaking exorcism magic.

If Kalikan had stayed near the Sun Disk instead of scouting in Vazuan when that slave named Xerath rebelled, the timeline of Runeterra would likely have been completely different...

"So you really were here!"

Jess reacted quite strongly when he heard Aaron call out Kalikan's name.

He felt that he had not wronged Aaron at all—Aaron had been playing him from the beginning!

"I knew it! No wonder you weren't in a hurry. You've been here before! Otherwise, how would you know who this relief sculpture depicts?"

"snort!"

Jess slammed his fist in dissatisfaction.

"Take me out of here! I need to get back to work; Piltover can't do without me!"

"Um."

Aaron had no intention of correcting Jess.

After activating the Kalikhan tomb, he easily pushed open the door and entered a spacious, dark chamber.

There are only two paths in the dark room, one on the left and one on the right.

Aaron opened the cockpit door, gesturing for Jess to jump out.

"Take this road on the right, go all the way to the end, and then you will flow out of the Pilt River."

"Remember not to forget what you promised me after you get out."

As he spoke, the Cheng Ying mech's hand moved closer, smoothly lifted Jesto up, and then gently placed him on the ground.

"Uh, okay."

Jess was a little taken aback when Aaron not only didn't deny what he had just said, but also pointed him in the right direction so clearly.

He saw that after Aaron put him down, he had no intention of leaving. Instead, he piloted his mech to the left in the opposite direction.

Subconsciously, Jess couldn't help but ask:

"And what about you?"

"Aren't you coming out with me?"

The mecha then stopped.

Sitting in the cockpit, Aaron glanced back at Jess, then offered a completely insincere explanation, as if discussing something utterly trivial:

"My family brought me some things, and I went out after I picked them up."

……

If Aaron hadn't been kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see Jess chasing after the mech that turned and left in vain, Jess might have already been expelled from the Kalikan Tomb by magic.

Even though Jess sensed that Aaron was acting mysteriously and was definitely hiding something from him, he made up his mind to go to the left.

He will still be sent out of the tomb without Janna's help.

"What, did your family send you something too?"

After a panting Jess sat back in the cockpit, Aaron teased him playfully.

He believed that Jayce's desire to return to Piltover as soon as possible to take charge was genuine, but he also believed that Jayce would be unable to let go of his curiosity and would insist on figuring out everything that was happening.

as predicted.

Back in the cockpit, Jess, barely catching his breath, fired off a barrage of questions:

"Where exactly is this place? Why do you seem to know this place so well? You said you were going to retrieve something, so what is it?"

As he spoke, Jess shamelessly made a meaningless promise:

"If I can't know, I'll cover my eyes right now! I absolutely won't look!"

"Cover your eyes?"

Aaron was genuinely amused.

In fact, the reason he brought Jess back into the mech was because he wanted Jess to see what was about to happen—

According to Janna, the Glorious Artifact is a miraculous creation resulting from the mastery of Kalikhan's exorcism techniques.

It involves binding evil spirits to inanimate objects, forming urns of ashes, grimoires, or mystical weapons for the spellcaster to use.

Doesn't that sound evil?

But in reality, most people can't even use it if they want to.

Once created, these magnificent artifacts each possess distinct characteristics and abilities, and to some extent, they actively choose their users.

So when Aaron was about to ignore the curious Jess, Janna suddenly told Aaron that Jess might be very suitable for one of the Glorious Artifacts.

Aaron pondered for a moment before turning back to Jess—he felt Jess should be strengthened.

Because of his collaboration with Mel, Aaron knew clearly that he would soon face pressure from the Black Rose and even the entire Noxus.

In this situation, instead of walking a tightrope and bearing the pressure alone, why not let this silly, rich, and handsome guy from Piltover share some of the burden?

Those who have boarded Aaron's pirate ship, whether it's Caitlin or Zeli, are currently unable to escape.

If I could possess a Brilliant Artifact perfectly suited to Jayce, in exchange for the cooperation of this Piltover councilman who still retains some idealism...

The problem between the two cities seems to be showing signs of a complete solution!

"Ahem, you have quite a few questions, let me answer them one by one."

Having thought all this through, the decisive Aaron didn't hesitate and immediately relayed the information Janna had just shared to Jess:

"First of all, I had never been here before, but now I know that this is the tomb of a legendary figure."

"This legendary figure is the one you saw at the gate earlier..."

Aside from intentionally concealing the existence of Janna, Aaron quickly told Jayce the whole story about the Kalikan Vault.

Finally, the bluebird that Gana had transformed into suddenly whispered something in Aaron's ear.

Aaron paused for a moment after hearing this, then silently activated the mech's alert mode and continued chatting with Jess with a forced smile:

"Do you know that Kalikan is actually purifying the world's filth? Ordinary people don't have this level of thinking."

"The most typical example is that legendary and glorious holy artifact that sealed and disintegrated the Balrog."

"The Flame Demon?"

Jess was completely intrigued.

He was able to create Hextech because of his untamed thirst for exploration.

Now that Jess heard Aaron was going to give him a mysterious treasure that contained magical powers, he could no longer suppress his curiosity.

He didn't care about the consequences; he just felt that Aaron was being too good to him!

"Yes, it's the Flame Demon."

The mech slowly walked down the left-hand corridor, and in the cockpit, Ariane gave a vivid account:

"At that time, Kalikan glimpsed a monstrous creature wreaking havoc in the spiritual realm."

"That monster was engulfed in dark red flames, constantly killing innocent spirits and disrupting the balance of the spiritual realm."

"As the exorcist of the Shurima Emperor, Kalikan had no intention of letting that monster go and chased it all the way to Zaun."

"And then, right here, he used a spirit-exorcising technique that even celestial warriors feared, to transform the monstrous fire demon into a silent runestone!"

"Wow! That's so brave!!"

Jess was completely absorbed in Aaron's story.

He couldn't help but clap his hands, praising Kalikan's past achievements with admiration, and looking forward to the glory he was about to receive... Eh?

"Why did you release me from the cockpit?"

Jess hadn't recovered from his earlier emotions when he turned around and found the cockpit door open, and he was silently placed outside by the mech's arm.

He looked up blankly to ask, only to see that Aaron had already closed the cockpit and continued telling the rest of the story—

"After a hundred years of this matter being settled, the small flame that the fire demon left in the spiritual realm has given birth to two new fire demons."

"The larger Balrog submitted to a general named Saan Uzul. As for the smaller Balrog..."

Upon hearing this, Jess suddenly had a bad feeling and quickly pressed for an answer:

"What happened to the smaller one?"

"It's nothing really."

Aaron waved his hand.

"It just wanted revenge on Kalikan, but it accidentally got trapped in this tomb and blocked the way to the treasure."

"so……"

As he spoke, Aaron scratched his head "embarrassed".

"If we want to get in, we need a bait with the scent of a living person to lure that fire demon away first."

"Hehe, please, Mr. Jess Talis!"