Pure Love

Chapter 75 Pure Love

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the brass components of the Sun Gate Bridge reflected the sunlight, creating a warm golden halo.

This bridge, spanning the entire strait, connects the continent of Valoran with the continent of Shurima. Numerous Hextech Pressure Furnaces are embedded within it, stabilizing the bridge while also serving as a unique decoration of Piltover.

When the figures of Tallinn and his group appeared on the other side of the bridge, Mrs. Piltover, who was waiting, burst into suppressed chatter, her curious gazes surging towards the group from another land.

Led by Caitlin, Tarlin and the others soon arrived at the bridge.

During the process, Caitlin's mother, Cassandra, also looked at Caitlin, who simply exchanged a glance with her mother before looking away.

Although the process was brief, a hint of surprise flashed in Lady Cassandra's eyes, but she made no sound of it and simply turned her gaze back to Tallinn as if nothing had happened.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, if Tarin remembered correctly, in the message Neeko conveyed to Shuma, this brief eye contact followed by looking away meant something like "we'll talk about it later" or "the situation is more complicated."

Similar underhanded tactics are common among the many families in Piltover, and Tarlin only made the connection after seeing Caitlin's behavior.

Seeing them communicating with coded messages right in front of him, Tallinn found it a bit amusing but didn't take it to heart.

"May I ask your name?" Lady Cassandra inquired.

At least until the diplomatic visit officially begins tomorrow, everything from welcoming them to arranging hotels for Tallinn and his entourage is being handled by the Gilaman family.

"Tallinn, the person in charge of this diplomatic visit," Tallinn said succinctly, "I've already given the list of the other personnel to Caitlin; you can ask her about it yourself tonight."

Hearing Tallinn's words, Lady Cassandra nodded, then turned to the side and said, "You must be tired from your journey. Why don't you go to the hotel we have prepared for you to rest for a while?"

"Um."

Tallinn nodded and then got into the convertible that the Giraman family had prepared.

Leaning against the covered wagon, Tallinn looked around at the houses with some curiosity.

Piltover's architectural style is quite distinctive, or rather, there's a huge difference between the old and new buildings. Because it was originally a trading city, the outskirts are mostly filled with sailors' pubs, sailors' clubs, outer harbors, and anchorages.

Most of these buildings are rough stone and old wooden structures, but if you walk a little further in, you will be greeted by dignified and elegant smooth marble, bronze latticework, and bright glass.

Towers adorned with gold and silver patterns stretched towards the sky, gear symbols were everywhere, and in the distance, a massive cluster of forging workshops billowed smoke and occasionally spewed forth towering flames, as if telling Tallinn and the others how fierce and dazzling the flames of civilization were here.

"The Future Forge." Noticing Tarlin's gaze, Lady Cassandra added, "The oldest and most advanced forge cluster in Piltover, including the Magic Essence motorcycle we're riding now, was also made in the Future Forge."

"Looks pretty good." Tarlin nodded indifferently, his eyes showing little concern.

This surprised Mrs. Cassandra.

Many people from other places, or even from Zu'an, often feel genuinely shocked or even despair when they see the huge industrial cluster of the future forging plant.

But why is it that, despite Ixtal having been in seclusion for a thousand years, Tarlin reacted so calmly—or even with a strange sense of contempt and disdain?

Tallinn only found it noisy.

Future Forge, a surface card in LoR, summons a Forgeman, then destroys the landmark when a spell costing 6 or more is played, restoring all spell costs.

It doesn't have much effect; it's like that in the game, and it's pretty much the same in real life.

"It's alright." Sensing the doubt in Lady Cassandra's gaze, Tallinn shrugged and said, "At least it's been quite effective in improving people's lives."

Almost immediately, Lady Cassandra understood the unspoken meaning of Tallinn's words: it was very useful in improving people's lives, but in other words, it wouldn't be very effective in war.

Thinking this, a look of confusion appeared on Mrs. Cassandra's face, but considering the current situation, she said, "The future forging cluster has enough industrial scale and technology that it can immediately become Piltover's arsenal if war really breaks out."

Upon hearing this, Tallinn couldn't help but chuckle.

"Then I'll give you a suggestion."

"What suggestion?" Cassandra asked curiously.

Tallinn, however, nonchalantly replied, "You can adjust the pipe's diameter to match the caliber of a Hextech-powered rifle, so we can produce them directly when war comes."

"Well, considering your city-state is small and lacks resource production, you could stockpile more oil during peacetime—I mean, elemental ore buried in canyons or bays? Then when war breaks out, you can just dig it out and have nothing to worry about."

Upon hearing this, Lady Cassandra blinked subconsciously, then looked at Tallinn with some surprise and said, "I didn't expect Mr. Tallinn to share the same view on this matter as Councilor Jess?"

"————Huh?" Upon hearing this, Tallinn was also taken aback.

Seeing this, Mrs. Cassandra said with some emotion, "This happened after the Hextech crystal technology was revolutionized. Due to the surge in demand, Hextech crystal rough was in short supply for a time, and there were shortages in the market."

To prevent similar incidents from happening again, Councilor Jess proposed this idea—unfortunately, the encapsulation process causes magical energy to dissipate from Hextech Gems stored in this way, so it's still under discussion.

This wasn't exactly a secret in Piltover, so Mrs. Cassandra didn't feel burdened by it. Instead, she could use this opportunity to deepen her relationship with Tallinn.

Tallinn remained silent for a moment before exclaiming in amazement, "Congressman Jess is quite a character."

"Yes, young and promising—"

Upon hearing Tallinn's words, a complex expression appeared on Lady Cassandra's face.

Unfortunately, they've now boarded the Middarda family's chariot—

Mrs. Cassandra always felt a sense of helplessness whenever she thought about how the Middarda family had easily stolen the fruits of her outstanding angel investments.

Tarlin was secretly pleased to sense Lady Cassandra's complex emotions.

Tarin already knew about Jayce's decision to break free from the Giramanen family and join the Middarda family's cause during his conversation with Caitlyn.

In Tarlin's view, it was clear that the Giramanen family was so focused on Jess's academic achievements that they forgot he was also a science and engineering student.

Dealing with this kind of STEM nerd doesn't require the Middarda family to expend any resources. All they need is for Mel to praise him a few times, like, "Wow, even the parameter tuning is so smooth! You really understand engineering aesthetics."

"I recognized him by his eyes; he's someone who can make 0s and 1s work in countless ways."

"What you're researching is a bridge to the future!"

Then, once the favorability rating is high enough, just sit down with a Noxian stunt, and you'll see. Jayce, that nerdy guy who's spent all his time in the Hextech workshop and has never talked to a woman, will hand over everything.

Then, if the bad woman comforts you with a "it's quite comfortable" or "it's already great," she'll directly declare that she'll defend you to the death.

If it were Talin, he should have a few Zaun foot massage girls every now and then to remove Jayce's charm, so he wouldn't be like Tom, being played by women.

Before long, Tallinn and the others arrived at the hotel.

Despite feeling physically well after a long and tiring journey, Tallinn stretched and looked at his rather modern room with a sense of nostalgia after spending several days outdoors in the open.

Putting aside the city-state's heritage and strength, in terms of technology and modernity, few city-states can compare with Piltover.

After all, outside of Piltover, most city-states are still living in a magical medieval world, some even playing out the Frost Age in icy landscapes, or counting grains of sand in the vast desert—

After enjoying the soft bed for a while, Tarlin got up and went straight to Nidalee's room.

The door wasn't locked, so Tallinn went straight in and then locked the door behind him.

Standing in the center of the room, Nidalee was slightly surprised when she turned around and saw that it was Tarin. She then stood still with her back to Tarin.

But Tallinn didn't care; he simply walked up and reached out to hug and grasp her.

Then Tarlin clearly felt Nidalee's body tremble violently, goosebumps rose all over her body, and a suppressed whimper came out.

This caught Tallinn's attention, and he fell silent for a moment.

Nidalee didn't react at all, just stood there trembling, but as time went by, her trembling became more and more obvious.

Tarlin remained silent at first, then his expression darkened. He tightened his grip on Nidalee to prevent her escape, and said coldly, "Didn't I say you're forbidden from becoming someone else without their permission?!"

Ah! "

Realizing her verbal tic, Nico was startled. After a moment of silence, she turned to Tarin behind her with a guilty expression and pitifully said, "Hey—can we reconcile—can you forgive Nico—?"

"At this moment? Are you kidding me?!" Tarin revealed a forced smile.

No wonder Tallinn felt uneasy, because there really were LeBlanc's spies in Piltover. If they were discovered, although Tallinn himself wasn't afraid, he could simply return to Ixtal, or if all else failed, he could take a ship to Demacia. Although LeBlanc's reach was long, Tallinn was confident that she couldn't hurt him.

The problem is that Neeko's own power is very limited. Although her racial abilities are amazing, Neeko herself has not been able to realize the magical talents of the Misttail tribe and is no match for an old monster like LeBlanc.

Feeling Tarin's gaze, Neeko said with a pitiful expression, "Neeko knows she was wrong—but Nidalee promised Neeko she'd be allowed to look like her!"

Upon hearing this, Tarlin was slightly surprised and asked, "Nedley agreed?"

"Yes, I agree."

Just then, a voice came from behind.

Looking back, I saw Nidalee unlocking the door with her key card.

After pushing the door open and locking it again, Nidalee gestured with her chin toward Tarin and said, "And this child is very innocent, so I agreed to let her become like me, but only in private, or with my permission."

To this, Tallinn asked with some surprise, "More than that—why did you agree?"

"It's just about looks." Nidalee shook her head, then paused before continuing, "Neeko likes you a lot, and you like Neeko too, so I just agreed."

As she said this, Nidalee paused, then looked at the innocent-looking Neeko beside her and said, "Besides—you've seen Neeko's abilities, I don't believe you don't have any strange thoughts."

As she spoke, Nidalee's expression turned somewhat helpless.

"Although it was a really good experience, it was all things I had never imagined—the human body could have so many different functions."

Hearing Nidalee's words, Tarin sighed, "I'm a person who loves purely—you've only made me suffer!!"

Saying this, Tarin glanced at the innocent-looking Nicole beside him, thought for a moment, and then said, "Regarding this matter—"

Let's wait a couple of days and let Nicole learn about this first.

"Mm." Nidalee nodded in understanding, then said, "Then Neeko can directly access my Shuma."

Wow, it even has a video recording function.

Somewhat surprised, Tallinn couldn't help but ask, "You don't mind?"

"What's there to mind?" Nidalee shook her head, then came up to Tarin and gave him a practiced, light peck on the lips, saying, "You are the lord of the beasts, so it is only natural for them to obey and serve you."

After saying this, Nidalee paused, then looked at Neeko, who was standing to the side with a curious expression, and said, "Tallinn and I have some things to do, you can go first—um, could you please call Farin for me?"

"Okay!" Seeing that she was out of trouble and wouldn't get a spanking, Neeko nodded excitedly. She then looked at Tarin and Nidalee with curiosity before leaving the room with a sense of relief.

Before closing the door, Nicole peeked through the crack and saw the two embracing. This made Nicole inexplicably curious, but considering that she still needed to call Farine, she didn't linger. She turned around, closed the door, and went to Farine's room to call her.