"Alright, Sejuani, we've settled it like this. Prepare for the southward migration in advance. I'll communicate with Demacia, and you can rest assured living south of Freljord."
"Southward migration?"
"Of course, we're not just building one Hextech station there. Besides, we need to build many things there. Dozens of people can't guard it, and it's better for your whole tribe to move there, isn't it?"
"But what you told me before wasn't like this, Linwin. I didn't know I had to bring the Winter's Claw south near Demacia," Sejuani frowned, her tone turning unfriendly. She continued loudly, "If all my people move south, can you really guarantee their safety? And how long can you sustain us?"
"What if you change your mind later and think we're just too much of a pain and just abandon us?" Sejuani said coldly, leaning closer to the Hextech phone.
Caitlyn was stunned on the side, looking at Sejuani's cold face. Suddenly, Caitlyn felt Sejuani was a bit cute.
Linwin immediately replied, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Don't worry, before I stop providing you with food for free, I'll help you find a way to survive in Freljord." Linwin's tone was confident, he chuckled lightly and continued, "I have the ability, honestly, keeping the whole Freljord alive is not a difficult task for me."
Freljord is vast and sparsely populated. Although its geographic area is as large as hundreds of Zaun and Piltover combined, the population is not that large.
Freljord has many small tribes. The Winter's Claw, as one of Freljord's three major tribes, has a population of less than a thousand. From this, it can be seen that the place is indeed not suitable for human survival.
But Linwin remembered that Sejuani's tribe in the future seemed to have tens of thousands of people. At least Linwin had seen in a story that there were thousands of elite warriors under Sejuani's command.
But Sejuani doesn't have that now. Now, Sejuani is just getting started, and the Winter's Claw is gradually absorbing the weak tribes around.
But even so, when Noxus said it was going to attack Freljord, it only lingered at the halfway point for several years. The funniest thing was that Darius, Noxus's hand, was even captured by Sejuani's tribe.
Now Darius must have run away, but from this incident, one can see how strong the Iceborn warriors who overcome the environment and survive against the odds are—because those who are not strong enough have died.
"You can also ask Caitlyn if I'm lying to you."
Caitlyn heard Linwin's words and immediately nodded in agreement on the side, "What he said is true, Sejuani. Your tribe is less than a thousand people, and the fish our Twin Cities' fishing boats catch in a week is enough to feed you for a season."
Sejuani fell silent after hearing this.
After staring into Caitlyn's eyes for a long time, she finally said in a low voice, "I hope you didn't deceive me."
"Don't worry, you'll know in a couple of days," the man on the other end of the Hextech phone laughed heartily.
"Oh, Caitlyn, have Ekko find a good location and then hand it over to Camille."
"I got it." Caitlyn closed her legs gracefully, nodding, she wanted to say something more, but the Hextech phone had already hung up.
The atmosphere became quiet, Vi was sleeping soundly in her sleeping bag, and there were only Caitlyn and Sejuani in the cabin.
After a moment of eye contact, Caitlyn broke the silence.
"Don't worry, I've emphasized it all afternoon; we're really wealthy." Caitlyn felt awkward saying this.
But Sejuani remained silent, just sitting quietly there.
What Sejuani fears most now is raising hope, because she no longer expects anything from this cruel world. Sejuani knew from a very young age that the world of Freljord is cruel; the snow can devour people, beasts can devour people, and even people can devour people.
Growing up in such a place, Sejuani's childhood was short. She has even forgotten what her childhood was like.
A good life?
Sejuani can't imagine what a good life looks like.
Caitlyn's description of the Twin Cities where people can live without worry, where they can use hot water every day, where they don't have to worry about freezing to death in the middle of the night, where they don't have to worry about being attacked by beast, where they don't have to worry about being hurt by enemies...
Sejuani can't help but wonder if such a world really exists?
"Relax, as long as you agree to this deal, it will definitely continue because, in the end, we're the ones profiting," Caitlyn comforted Sejuani.
"I hope so."
---
In Piltover's airship center, passengers walked on the wide grounds, but they couldn't help but glance at one place in the central square, where a military airship was docked, blue and white, and a group of enforcers were running back and forth on the huge airship, carrying boxes half their size.
A young man wearing the emblem of the Ferros family stood in front of a group of people, holding a notebook.
Whenever he looked up at someone, that person would loudly respond, and he would lower his head, making a mark in his notebook with a pen.
"Frozen fresh fish is ready!"
"Coats and alcohol are ready!"
"Shimmer heaters are ready, along with Hextech brand heaters!"
"Bread and jerky are ready, and there's plenty of dried mushrooms."
"All supplies are ready!"
The young Ferros family member nodded, finally showing a smile on his usually serious face. He hung the pen on his chest and the notebook on the hook on his pants, then clapped his hands forcefully. He exclaimed, "Alright, load all the supplies!"
"Departure in ten minutes!"
"We aim to return before tonight, so we can have a warm meal!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Let's move, let's move!"
Under the mobilization, the airship center became bustling.
At the southern border of Freljord, above the snow-covered ground of the Hextech station, Skite was smoking and frowned when he saw the fierce men circling the Hextech station below.
These people are effective.....too effective.....
When their Warmother says to guard, they rotate in shifts 24 hours a day without any complaints.
Thinking of this, Skite shook himself and flicked the cigarette ash.
"When will they arrive?"
Ekko was beside Skite and pondered before replying, "If they left in the morning, they should arrive in the afternoon?"
"I wonder what they brought this time," Skite licked his lips.
"Mr. Skite, those resources are for the Winter's Claw," Ekko immediately said seriously, warning Skite not to do anything out of line.
The customs and taxation in the Twin Cities are extremely strict, and anyone trying to profit from tariffs will not have a good result.
Although Ekko is a clerk, he also calls Vander "old man" when discussing matters. Vander doesn't separate Ekko when discussing matters.
So Ekko knows one thing: from the development of the Twin Cities to the present, there have been attempts to profit from tariffs, but the woman who single-handedly ambushed hundreds of Noxian soldiers at the entrance of Zaun Port doesn't tolerate such nonsense.
Stick your hand out, lose your hand. Stick your foot out, lose your foot.
"What did you say? I just hope there's some alcohol, so we can drink together later."
Skite glanced at Ekko.
With that, he looked down again.
In addition to guarding the Hextech station, the Winter's Claw people also cut wood and build wooden houses.
But the houses they build are too rudimentary.
Will they really not collapse in strong winds and heavy snow?
"Sejuani, shall we spar again?"
"No need."
Sejuani looked at the woman in front of her, only reaching up to her chest, and shook her head coldly, "Without weapons, in hand-to-hand combat, you're not my match."
Listening to Sejuani's words, Vi felt a tingling frustration but couldn't argue because it was the truth.
Not to mention Sejuani's ability to use magic, just the environment she was in, Freljord was full of life and death struggles, which made the Warmother's combat skills unmatched by Vi.
Vi was indeed formidable, with excellent fighting talent. If there were boxing competitions in the Twin Cities, Vi would definitely rank in the top three. But compared to Sejuani, Vi lacked a bit of brutality.
As she looked up at Sejuani, Vi helplessly pouted and blew on her pink hair. There was a hint of embarrassment in her eyes.
Sejuani was really tall!
Trying to stand on her tiptoes, Vi realized she still wasn't even remotely close to Sejuani's height.
Seeing this, Vi was speechless.
It was her first time seeing a woman taller than Caitlyn, and she was both tall and strong. However, years of malnutrition had left her skin lackluster and lacking elasticity.
Her skin was tight against her bones, but even in this state, she was still powerful.
"I say, since you have nothing to do, why not spar with me?"
"Who said I have nothing to do?" Sejuani wrapped her dirty and ragged fur coat around herself, brushed past Vi, and said, "The Warmother needs to take responsibility for her people. These days, we've been eating and living well here, but I see your food supplies are running low."
Sejuani turned to look at Vi and said sternly, "So I need to find a few people to go hunting, even though this place doesn't seem like it would have any game."
Creatures that couldn't adapt to Freljord wouldn't approach it, and those that could survive in Freljord's environment would only be found in the coldest regions, making it difficult to find any wildlife in the southern part of Freljord.
But this place is close to Demacia. It might be worth trying hunting near Demacia.
Sejuani didn't go to plunder, so it didn't violate her deal with Linwin. Is it okay for her to go hunting near Demacia?
"Not much food? Hunting?" Vi blinked, then jumped up to Sejuani and said, "What are you thinking? Are you sharing a brain with your pet pig? Did you not listen to what Caitlyn and I discussed this morning?"
Vi's tongue was sharp.
Vi was known for her sharp tongue, especially since her own sister was Powder. Having a sister like Powder made her naturally sharp-tongued.
Listening to Vi's words, Sejuani's eyes gradually turned cold, staring firmly at Vi's face.
"The airship will arrive today. Worried about not having enough food? I'm afraid you won't be able to finish it when the time comes!" Vi walked up, looked up at Sejuani's icy blue eyes, and then Vi shrunk her neck.
Without her gauntlets, Vi really wasn't Sejuani's match. In a sparring match in the snow, after just a dozen moves, Vi would be lying in the snow clutching her stomach or chin.
And Sejuani hadn't even used her full strength yet.
In terms of physical fitness, Sejuani was far superior to Vi, and in combat techniques, Sejuani also surpassed Vi by far.
But with the Atlas Gauntlets, it was a different story. With those gauntlets and Vi's boxing skills, Vi became a superhuman-like figure.
"I can take on both pigs and people!" But now Vi chose to silently avoid Sejuani's gaze.
When Caitlyn glared at her like that, she would also hide.
This wasn't cowardice. In Linwin's words, it was being prudent.
Seeing Vi avoiding her gaze, Sejuani felt both angry and amused, but having caught onto important information, she spoke up, "Airship?"
Vi nodded and said, "The food promised to you will arrive today, and as for what the airship is, you'll know this afternoon."
"From where?" Sejuani didn't understand.
"Are you really sharing a brain with that pig of yours? I said it's an airship, an AIRship! Something that flies, where do you think it will come from? Idiot!"
Sejuani: .....
Sejuani: fists hardened.
In the afternoon, Sejuani swallowed the last piece of bread in her hand with satisfaction. The frozen bread melted in her saliva, turning into a warm stream flowing into her stomach.
These days, Sejuani could eat her fill every day.
It wasn't just Sejuani who could eat her fill; even the warriors under her ate well.
Just three days had passed, but Sejuani's spirit had improved a lot. Compared to when Vi first saw her, Sejuani's skin still lacked luster and elasticity, but at least now her cheeks had some color.
"Another bowl of soup?" A young man named Ekko walked up to Sejuani and held out a bowl.
Sejuani nodded.
Leaning by the bonfire, sipping the warm meat soup, there was nothing happier than this.
Sipping the hot soup, Sejuani noticed Ekko curiously looking at her weapon.
"Don't touch it." Seeing Ekko reaching out to touch it, Sejuani quickly stopped him.
"Um, sorry?" Ekko quickly withdrew his hand, curious about the piece bound to Sejuani's flail. It looked like a combination of stone and metal, but also like ice?
"That's true Ice. If you touch it, you'll die," Sejuani said solemnly.
But as if remembering something, Sejuani stared at Ekko, looking at the pocket watch tied to his waist, shaking her head and saying, "No, you can touch it. You have magical items that can resist True Ice."
But Ekko didn't want to touch it anymore....
After lunch, Sejuani looked at Vi and Caitlyn, who were going to nap, with a strange expression.
"Have your guys.... always been like this?"
"What?"
Skite couldn't understand the Warmother's meaning, and Sejuani immediately said, "Do you need to sleep at noon too?"
"It's nothing. Miss Caitlyn only works six hours a day. Not only does she have time for a nap, but she also has time for afternoon tea, and she always finishes work at six-thirty."
Sejuani: .....
Every time she heard these people talk about their lives, Sejuani would doubt life.
Is she really living in the same world as these people?
And just when Sejuani was doubting life again, a roar sounded.
"Captain Skite! Captain Vi!!!"
An enforcer stood on a high slope, waving his hands vigorously.
Both Sejuani and Vi looked over.
"They're here!!"
Skite's face lit up with joy, but Sejuani didn't know what was happening.
"They're here? Who?"
"Our people." Skaarl responded with a smile.
It had been many days since they had drunk alcohol, many days since they had eaten fresh food.
Hopefully, the supplies for the Winter's Claw would include fresh meat and good wine.
Skite looked up at the sky, and Sejuani followed his gaze, but she couldn't see anything.
Just as Sejuani was about to ask, she suddenly saw a flash in the distance.
A blue light flickered in the clouds. Then, when the blue light flickered again, it was closer.
In just a few seconds, Sejuani saw a dot appear in her field of vision.
Narrowing her eyes, she watched the dot, and a few seconds later, the dot turned into a massive object.
It was..... a gigantic flying house with blue and white stripes?
Sejuani stared in astonishment at the flying behemoth that stopped above her head, her mouth involuntarily hanging open.
What kind of creature was this?
//// Sorry, my mistake////
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