The crisis was resolved, and the family moved back into The Last Drop. Now, the area outside was filled with patrolling Noxian soldiers and enforcers.
In the meeting hall, Cipher held a Noxian diplomatic letter as he spoke. "Swain will arrive in Piltover in ten days."
"A personal visit? That's unexpected," Silco remarked with interest.
"Not after what happened with Camille. The assassination attempt changed everything."
"For better or worse?" Vander asked, arms crossed.
Cipher's eyes narrowed slightly. "That depends entirely on how we play our next moves."
Only the adults were present. The children were not, today, he was preparing to reveal one of his biggest secret, and if the kids overheard and accidentally let it slip, it would be disastrous.
But there were two additional adults this time: Viktor and Heimerdinger.
Cipher wasn't particularly eager to bring Heimerdinger along. The esteemed professor, despite his age, had a temperament somewhat similar to a child's, prone to slipping up.
However, top-tier scientists were needed for this, and he knew he couldn't handle everything alone. Viktor was in better physical condition, but Cipher worried that even he might not be able to bear the weight of what was to come.
He mentally reviewed his options once more.
Singed could have been an option, but that man only had his daughter in mind. For her sake, he would do anything, making him a risky weak point. So in the end, he had no choice but to take a gamble and bring along the already revolutionary-minded yordle.
"For us, this is actually good news. We're technically his allies, he has no reason to make a move against us. If he's coming in person, it also means the Upper City will have to tread more carefully. At least for a while, we won't have to worry about Camille sneaking into the Undercity for another assassination," Silco said, exhaling a puff of smoke.
He welcomed Swain's arrival. No matter how corrupt Noxus was, it was still better than the hypocrites up in Piltover.
"You sound almost pleased by the prospect of Noxian intervention," Viktor observed, his hand tapping lightly on the table.
Silco blew out another stream of smoke. "I prefer honest tyranny to hypocritical 'progress.' At least with Swain, we know exactly where we stand."
Heimerdinger's whiskers twitched with concern. "Having experienced Noxian invasions in my lifetime, I would caution against such optimism."
"After what happened with Camille, I realized a fatal mistake I've made," Cipher admitted. "Unexpected situations always arise before success. We can't pin our hopes on others, we must gain the power to protect ourselves as soon as possible."
"You've already transformed Zaun beyond recognition," Vander began. "What more can we possibly—"
"Almost dying has a way of clarifying priorities," Cipher cut in.
He then stood up, his expression unusually serious. "So today, I have something extremely important to share with the family. This information must not be leaked."
Everyone turned to him in surprise. It was rare to see him this solemn. He had always carried himself with a calm, effortless confidence, as if everything was under control. Realizing this was something serious, Silco glanced at Sevika, giving her a silent signal.
She nodded and got up. Carefully, she inspected the room, checking for listening devices and examining air vents. After testing the locks on windows and doors, she went outside. There, she summoned a few enforcers, instructing them to guard the stairway leading to the second floor and prevent anyone from approaching.
"All set, nothing unusual."
Silco gave a slight nod. "Alright, Cipher, what is it that you need to 'confess' to the family?" The wording made him uneasy. That kind of phrasing was usually reserved for someone admitting to a mistake.
"No rush," Cipher replied. "First, tell me, how much shimmer serum, food supplies, and steel have been prepared? What's the production rate of the chemtech prosthetics?"
Silco didn't rush to answer, having already made thorough calculations. "Given the urgency, the shimmer lab managed to produce 3,000 improved doses of shimmer. As for steel and food, our own reserves are decent."
"Define 'decent,'" Cipher pressed.
"High-quality steel is more than sufficient, and we've stocked up accordingly. We've recovered a few tons of lower-grade iron, but as for food, we can only squeeze out enough to sustain 3,000 people for a month."
"I also placed a large order with Noxus, and those supplies are already en route. The prosthetics, though… Your standards are too high. At most, we can only produce fifty units per day."
"That's enough," Cipher said, taking a deep breath. "First, I need to apologize to all of you. I've been hiding a secret from everyone. I won't try to explain why, it wouldn't be a good enough excuse. But after what happened with Camille, I've finally woken up. I can't keep this to myself anymore. I have to share it."
"We all have secrets, Cipher," Silco said, studying him carefully.
"Not like this one. Since we're family, no matter what happens in the future, we'll face the consequences together."
As he spoke, memories of his unique ability surfaced in his mind, and just as he thought of it, the presence on his shoulder picked up on it immediately. That nosy little bird had overheard him again, but there was nothing he could do about her.
She was always listening, and there was no point resisting. He just had to accept it.
Janna widened her eyes in astonishment, covering her beak with her wings to avoid making a sound. She had watched civilizations rise and fall, had witnessed magic both wondrous and terrible. But in her thousands of years of existence, she had never witnessed such an unimaginable power.
A dimensional rift. The ability to travel to other universes.
If it were a cosmic deity, she could understand. But Cipher was just an ordinary human. This was beyond her comprehension.
"Who doesn't have a few secrets?" Vander poured Cipher a drink, trying to ease the suddenly heavy atmosphere.
"This isn't just a small secret," Cipher said, shaking his head, accepting the drink but not drinking it.
"All the technology I've brought, the water purification systems, TICK-MK3 Hunter, explosive rounds, and so on… I didn't actually invent them. I learned them in another world."
The room fell into stunned silence. Expressions ranged from confusion to outright disbelief.
"Another... world?" Silco studied Cipher's face for signs of deception and found none.
His words left everyone in the room stunned. Their instincts told them not to believe it, traveling through time and space to another world was the stuff of fairy tales.
"Cipher, are you suggesting interdimensional travel?" Viktor asked carefully. "Because the energy requirements alone would impossible with our current understanding..."
But then he noticed Janna's reaction.
Even a god was shocked. What if it was true?
"Are you certain? I'm not denying the possibility of other worlds existing, but… how exactly do you get there?" Viktor asked cautiously.
Even if other worlds did exist and their coordinates were known, the distance between them would be suffocatingly vast. Traveling from Piltover to Noxus' Immortal Bastion already required months of exhausting travel, crossing into another world was unimaginable.
"A dimensional rift. I can open a portal to another world."
"Forget it, I'll just show you."
Cipher knew that trying to explain something this absurd with words would be meaningless. Instead, he closed his eyes briefly, his breathing pattern changing slightly, a subtle shift in his posture as he accessed an ability that none of them could see or sense.
Then he activated his ability.
Space, normally invisible, fractured like shattered glass, revealing a swirling nebula beyond. A cold mechanical voice echoed in his mind, and his vision filled with text that only he could see.
---
[Please select a dimensional rift destination:
- Apex
- Worms
- Random world]
[If no selection is made, the rift will disappear in one minute.]
---
The dimensional system remembered his previous journeys and adapted accordingly. Since his second trip to the Worms world, he had never returned, the physics there were strange and unpredictable. Worse yet, he had discovered that prolonged exposure to that world's environment gradually altered human biology, slowly transforming visitors into worm-like creatures.
Thankfully, when he'd returned to Zaun, the unsettling changes had gradually reversed themselves over several days, his skin smoothing back to normal and the strange ridges along his spine disappearing. Still, it wasn't a risk worth taking again.
He dismissed the selection.
He had no intention of diving solo into another world again. Thinking back, that had been a truly reckless idea.
"Oh, my heavens… it's real. This rift is overflowing with chaotic temporal energy," Heimerdinger gasped, jumping down from his chair.
Adjusting his glasses, he leaned in for a closer look, even reaching out to touch the rift.
"Professor, wait! This is a dimensional rift, if the temporal energy destabilizes, we could all be swallowed by the time stream!" Viktor rushed forward, attempting to pull Heimerdinger back, fearing that a single careless move could doom them all.
"This is simply fascinating! Viktor, you must see this!" Heimerdinger handed Viktor a specialized lens, eager for him to observe.
Viktor hesitated. He firmly believed that scientific research should be conducted under safe conditions. But seeing Heimerdinger recklessly reaching out and experimenting, he couldn't hold back.
"If I were you, I'd keep my distance," Silco commented from a safe position. "Forgive me if I don't find that particularly reassuring."
Viktor put on the glasses and examined the rift himself.
"It appears unstable at first glance, filled with chaotic energy that could explode at any moment," he analyzed. "But in reality… it's unexpectedly stable. It could theoretically support dimensional transport."
"If I had to compare, Viktor, this could be actually safer than the Hexgate you and Jayce developed," Heimerdinger mused deep in thought.
One minute later, the swirling energies began to contract, the fractures in reality slowly mending themselves, the entire phenomenon folding inward until the rift vanished.
Heimerdinger sighed deeply in disappointment, clearly not satisfied, he hadn't had enough time to study it. "No! I needed more time!"
Dimensional travel… this was beyond extraordinary!
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This is the final chapter of Volume 1. There are five interlude chapters set in the Apex world. I want to post all of them at once, so first I need to write five more chapters to share with my members before releasing the five interlude chapters together here.