Compared to the previous leg of the journey, the trip from Kalamanda to Piltover could only be described as smooth sailing.
This time, Lux and Ino were no longer on a mixed cargo and passenger armed merchant ship, but on a sailing passenger ship named the "Taiyin Stone".
After leaving Kalamanda, this passenger ship would follow the summer's receding ocean current, sailing smoothly eastward, and after stopping at Urzeris and Stone Wall Town, would finally arrive at Piltover.
Because Urzeris and Stone Wall Town were under Noxus's control, Lux and Ino were originally a bit nervous, but to their surprise, the port management in these two places was extremely lax; as long as they weren't carrying large pieces of luggage in or out, the port staff wouldn't even glance at them.
Lux, quite curious about this, found a sailor on duty on the deck.
At Klein's prompting, she generously treated the unlucky fellow who was on duty to a few drinks, and she also had a glass of lemonade.
Through this method, Lux successfully gathered a lot of interesting information.
According to Klein's translation, Lux learned that the economic situation on the Taiyin Stone's route seemed to have been sluggish in recent years—even though it was far from Bilgewater, with the Noxus navy having gone to blockade Ionia, the nearby maritime trade had also suffered a severe blow.
"In the past, merchant ships or passenger ships would at least pool their money to hire the Noxus's Conquering Sea Fleet for escort, and although the price was a bit high, it was always safe." The sailor, having had some drinks, clearly became more talkative, "Now it's good, there are sea rats everywhere, and they are very bold. Now they don't even spare ships with the Mother Serpent figurehead. I really hope Mother Serpent drags them back to the deep sea!"
"That's really interesting," Klein commented at this point, "Mother Serpent is the faith of Bilgewater, and now it has spread to Western Shurima. Look at this sailor, he is clearly a Shuriman, but he keeps saying Mother Serpent. Now tell me, Lux, what does this indicate?"
"It indicates… the decline of Shurima's faith?" Lux hesitated for a moment, "So much so that Shuriman people would even believe in Mother Serpent?"
"Obviously not," Klein sighed, "This indicates that where someone is from actually doesn't matter. Most people's view on faith is to believe in whatever is useful!"
Lux blinked her eyes, feeling as if she had understood.
And on the other side, the drunken sailor continued his complaints.
Something about passenger ship business being difficult now.
Something about Piltoverians forming their own fleet.
Something about the toll fees through the Sun Gates having increased again.
Something about the black fog of the Soul Eating Night starting to appear in the Merman Sea.
Something about the flesh and blood prostitutes of Kalamanda having also increased their prices.
Hmm, wait, that last one seems a bit off!
Seeing that the drunk sailor had started rambling indiscriminately about all sorts of messy things, Klein promptly ended his simultaneous interpretation and made the little girl leave the deck—the following parts were not for children to hear!
Lux was only thirteen years old, for goodness sake!
What the hell, weren't sailors supposed to be a bunch of heavy-drinking alcoholics?
How could this guy start complaining about his wife pushing him too hard ashore and his back aching every time he came home, after only three glasses of whiskey?
With such a low alcohol tolerance, how did he become a sailor?
If this unlucky fellow, who was punished by the captain for getting drunk on duty when the ship set sail that day, knew of Klein's complaint, he would also feel very wronged.
As a poor sailor working on a passenger route, how could he usually afford the kind of pure hard liquor that Lux was treating him to?
In the bars he frequented, if the water content was less than fifty percent, it meant the bar owner was in a good mood!
Even though he was considered an old sailor and always had a drink in hand, he usually couldn't afford undiluted liquor. In such circumstances, how good could his alcohol tolerance be?
… … … … … … … …
Thus, during the half-month long voyage, with Klein's help and guidance, Lux used various flexible approaches to converse with all sorts of people on board.
From the captain, first mate, and first-class passengers, down to the sailors, cooks, and poor boys in the common bunk.
On a small passenger ship, Lux witnessed a world completely different from Demacia.
People from all walks of life, each with their own story.
Like a true gentleman in first class, he was a researcher at a popular laboratory in Piltover, having just completed a key development project.
His trip to Kalamanda was for relaxation, but unfortunately, due to the wrong season, he was unable to see the snow on Mount Whitetooth that he had longed for.
As a researcher, he was intelligent, quick-witted, and very eloquent. He could converse happily with Lux about music, and even wanted to invite this clever young lady to see a play at the Piltover Grand Theater, only to express regret upon hearing that Lux was going to Zaun.
A well-dressed fellow in second class initially spoke harshly to Lux, but after getting drunk, he became incredibly vulnerable.
It turned out that he was not an upper-class person, but just a dockworker whose beloved girl always wanted to see the sunset at the westernmost edge of the world—so he saved money for half a year, bought two tickets to Kalamanda, and planned to take the girl to settle there.
Unfortunately, by the time he had saved enough money, the girl had already accepted someone else's proposal. In a fit of anger, he changed the two one-way tickets into round-trip tickets and went to Kalamanda alone to see the world's last sunset.
This guy was very remorseful after getting drunk, completely immersed in pain, but at this time, the reason for his pain was no longer the loss of love, but why he was so foolish to insist on taking this trip. He wailed, "That's my annual bonus!" "Love my wrench, gears, and gravity hammer, love!" while crying like a robust idiot.
And in the common bunk, the passengers were even more diverse.
There were gamblers who had lost everything due to their addiction and were going to Piltover to escape debt; there were also young people who had put everything their family had into hoping to find a future in Piltover.
There were families fleeing war, who had gone through many twists and turns hoping to make a stable living; there were also returnees who had spent most of their lives in Kalamanda and finally chose to return to their hometown.
Of course, there were also those with ill intentions, but unfortunately, they chose the wrong target. When they tried to Allure Lux to get off the ship early, they were frozen into ice pops and hung on the deck.
A passenger ship, a microcosm of life.
Under Klein's guidance, Lux patiently listened to their stories. While experiencing their joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness, she also gradually learned about Piltover and Zaun from their mouths, and understood these two cities that connected the Shurima Continent and the Valoran Continent.
From people's mouths, Lux was surprised to find that although it was the same city, some people saw it as paradise, others as hell; some saw it full of hope, while others saw no future there.
Some believed Piltover was full of progress and light, while others believed Piltover was cold and hypocritical.
Some believed Zaun was as sincere and genuine as ever, while others believed Zaun was destined to be a lost cause.
In this situation, Lux couldn't help but become curious about Piltover and Zaun.
She was curious about the relationship between these two cities, their history, and everything about them.
And Klein, besides helping Lux communicate with people, did not provide any additional information from beginning to end.
After all… reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.
Lux was now walking her own Path of Radiance.
As for himself, an Darkin from the old era, it was better to teach students.
"Ino! Your spell model is wrong again! Where's your error notebook? Get it out and write it down!"
"…"
"Look at all these errors in your models, what, are you doing permutations and combinations in your error notebook?"
"…"
"You are truly the worst class I have ever taught!"
"…"
Klein's Small Class · Noxus's Southern Strategy:
For the Noxus Empire, their main energy is currently focused on the east, on the war in Ionia—but this does not mean that this Voracity empire has stopped its expansion to the south. In the coastal cities of northern Shurima, the Noxus people adopted a strategy of division, appeasement, and offering protection, attracting many city-states to join the Noxus Empire, the most famous of which are Urzeris and Belzhun.