Blockade of the Strait

Chapter 79 Blockade of the Strait

"What?!"

Upon hearing Tallinn's words, the Piltover councilors, who had been barely maintaining their composure, were startled, and a moment of chaos ensued amidst their discussions.

The reason is simple: the Sungate Strait is far too important for Piltover.

In fact, the reason Piltover was able to maintain its civilization and progress was because the Sungate Strait brought Piltover a continuous stream of resources and profits.

In Tallinn's view, the Sun Gate Strait was even more important than the Holmes Strait, which he had ruled during his first reign.

After all, while the Strait of Hormuz is important, it is not the only shipping route; the difference lies mainly in shipping prices and time efficiency.

And what about the Sun Gate Strait? Thanks to the planning of the League of Legends designers, this strait monopolizes nearly 90% of the maritime trade in Runeterra.

The famous city-states on the continent of Valoran, such as Piltover, Zaun, Noxus, and Demacia, as well as the numerous warlord forces scattered across the continent of Shurima, all rely on this unique sea choke point for transcontinental maritime transport and transoceanic trade.

Some might ask, "If we can't go through the Sun Gate, why can't we just go around the two sides of the continent?"

This shows that we don't fully understand the extent of the trenches in Runeterra.

In a sense, the continent of Shurima itself is a huge basin, except for the eastern side of Ixtal: the other sides are all mountain ranges.

Not to mention ships, even when warm atmospheric currents blow from the coast of Ixtal to the interior of Shurima, the mountains between Ixtal and Shurima will block and isolate the moisture.

This explains why Ixtal is lush and green, while Shurima on the other side of the mountains is a golden desert.

From above, the entire Shurima looks like a giant litter box.

Of the entire continent of Shurima, only the coastal region in the east, which is controlled by Ixtal, is relatively flat. However, due to the ancient Green Wall, it is almost impossible to build a trading port without Ixtal's permission.

Apart from the large flat areas in the east, there are only some relatively flat outlets to the sea along both sides of the Sun Gate Strait from time to time.

These ports of entry into the sea also form the main routes of today's Sun Gate trade routes.

The Sun Gate Strait was not originally a strait, but rather the only land corridor connecting the two continents.

Decades ago, in order to gain more benefits, the two cities opened up the corridor by digging a canal, thus forming the Sun Gate Strait. The original land corridor was reinforced with steel, forming the Sun Gate Bridge, which is a combination of nature and ancient Hextech technology.

The moment the Sungate Strait was opened, the trade heart of Runeterra was nailed to the Sungate.

Suppose Lady Piltover is ruthless enough to change course after Tallinn blocks the Sun Gate, and sails south from the Sea of ​​Watchers to the southern coast of Shurima for trade. Not to mention that the ocean currents are against the current, which reduces speed and increases consumption, and that's only the beginning, guess what?

We've arrived at the Manghe Delta! This is the territory of the Baju people, and also a paradise for pirates.

Further south, wow! There are even more pirates, because we've reached the waters of our beloved Bilgewater region, a place teeming with pirates and truly lawless.

The waters also harbor giant sea creatures, including epic, legendary, and even demigods.

Further on, you'll reach Icathia, an anchor point of a material realm swallowed by the void. Both the land and the nearby ocean have been assimilated into a pale purple, lightless sea.

You can leave now.

If the merchants in Piltover truly had such courage, Tallinn would never have continued to fuss about ecological protection here.

Instead, they will do everything they can to help them cross the sea, without asking for any reward, just to bring out the information about the interior of the Sea of ​​No Light.

After crossing the Sea of ​​No Light, there is a series of coastlines corrupted by the void, with no supplies available along the way, and the constant possibility of being attacked by suddenly appearing void creatures.

These suddenly appearing void creatures are not simply the ethereal beings summoned by Malzahar, but rather void behemoths belonging to the Void Queen Bervis, possessing a true physical form within the material realm.

After passing through this section, the next stop is the coastal area of ​​Mount Targon. Mount Targon is the most well-known mountain. Although it is only a single mountain, the mountain range extending from it covers the entire continent of Shurima, with almost no human settlements or supply points.

Sailing here is relatively safer than along the Icathian coast, but only relatively.

Because various dragons and even unpredictable celestial creatures frequently appear near Mount Targon.

Once you cross the coast, you will reach the Sea of ​​Conquerors, which is near Demacia.

This is the settlement of the Merfolk, the birthplace of Nami, the Tidecaller.

According to Nami's backstory, the seabed here has been eroded by the Void, and unlike Belvis, the Void here is more primitive, wilder, and more inclined to the pure destruction of the material realm of Runeterra.

To reiterate, as long as you truly dare to take the plunge and are truly capable of doing so, Tallinn will do everything in its power to help you, except perhaps personally.

field.

There was nothing they could do; Tallinn was well aware of his own abilities.

Given Tarin's current capabilities, it's impossible for him to defeat the Void head-on.

In this situation, as long as one crosses the Sea of ​​Conquerors, one can freely trade with Demacia and the coastal nations west of the Gate of the Sun.

After all, Ixtal was originally located in eastern Shurima, and even according to the laws of ancient Shurima, the area west of the Sun Gate was not under Ixtal's jurisdiction.

Therefore, as long as merchants can successfully reach Demacia despite the risks of being taxed by the Baru, robbed by pirates, swallowed by the Pale Purple Void, toyed with by celestial beings, and annihilated by the Destruction Void, they can continue trading as before.

If these profit-driven businessmen really go this far, Tallinn would have to kowtow to them no matter what.

Putting aside everything else, the information gathered about the Void alone will benefit the entire Runeterra region immensely.

Going south is blocked, but what about going north?

The Noxian coast was alright, but only in certain areas, because the Middarda family's influence wasn't enough to allow them to run rampant in Noxus.

Noxus's system is similar to the provincial system of ancient Rome. Each province has its own supreme governor, and each governor can form his own legion in the name of the province.

Below the legions, nobles can freely form their own warbands. Only in large-scale battles will they receive orders from the Noxian emperor to form warbands composed of numerous legions.

Only in battle groups will these different legions be under the unified command of the highly respected supreme commander, or even the Hand of Noxus, the pinnacle of Noxian warrior honor.

In this situation, although the Noxian Middarda family's legion was not weak, it was a pipe dream to think that they could be ignored by the many legions and warband nobles along the way just by having face.

If you don't pay, then encountering bandits along the way is unavoidable, right?

In particular, according to Noxian law, anyone who illegally enters Noxian territorial waters will be considered a slave. Zhao Xin was captured and thrown into the arena because he accidentally crossed the line while fishing.

Therefore, being forced to pay large tolls is almost unavoidable.

And once we've crossed Noxus territorial waters—haha, Freljord, come on over!

Being swallowed by the void was at least a quick death; the frigid temperatures of Freljord were so extreme that even Sylas, protected by magic, nearly froze to death. If he hadn't absorbed the Ice Priest's icy magic at the last moment, gaining sufficient resistance, our beloved Liberator would have been long gone.

He and the other mages who accompanied him were turned into ice sculptures.

Only two or three months of the year are relatively warm, and during this time, all the people of Freljord go to great lengths to store up winter supplies.

Noxus and Demacia alike suffered greatly from this.

As for crossing the Freljords while they were avoiding the winter—

Can you guess why the Freljordians are hoarding supplies so frantically before winter?

Tallinn knew these things, and so did Mrs. Piltover.

Although they may not have the same detailed understanding as Tarin through Runeterra's backstory and the written records of Ixtal's legacy spanning over six thousand years.

However, years of trade have made them quite aware of how far-reaching the consequences would be if one end of the strait were indeed blocked by the Ixtals.

Feeling threatened and on edge, Kaden Tarrios, the patriarch of the Tarrios family, who came from a family that managed maritime trade, was on the verge of a breakdown.

Maritime trade was the source of the Tarrios family's economy and power.

It was through this massive influx of capital, and the hundreds of thousands of port workers who relied on the port and maritime trade for their livelihoods, that the Tarrios family achieved a status far exceeding that of ordinary people.

But now, "This is absolutely impossible! You monkey of Ixtal!"

Kaden stood up, his mountain-like body adorned with extravagant decorations.

In the past, this nouveau riche style always made other members of parliament feel genuinely dissatisfied, thinking that Kaden's attire would make outsiders think that the trading nobles of Piltover were just a bunch of nouveau riche.

But now, amidst the pressure and anger brought about by the strait blockade, the aura that Kaden unleashed at this moment was truly suffocating.

It was only at this moment that people suddenly remembered that before becoming the patriarch of the Tarrios family and a permanent member of the Piltover council, Kaden was a heroic captain who had personally led his fleet across storms and dealt a heavy blow to pirates!

He thought that more than ten years of comfortable life had worn away all the fierce fighting spirit in his heart.

But along with the anger he displayed, everyone could clearly feel the suffocatingly tight muscles hidden beneath the thick layer of fat.

Not to mention others, even Mel, the councilor representing the Middarda family in place of the family head, couldn't help but squint his eyes.

In recent years, Kaden has been working tirelessly for the Middarda family, and Mel even thought that he was no longer the heroic captain he once was.

But now it seems—perhaps he was just waiting for an opportunity?

This was while Mel was still pondering why Kaden had been hiding himself and then suddenly erupted at this moment.

On the other side, upon hearing Kaden refer to them as "Ixtal monkeys," a look of shock and anger appeared on Qiyana's face.

But just as Qiyana stood up, she sensed a gust of wind flash past her side.

Within everyone's sight, Tarin's body transformed into a blur, blasting Kaden away almost the instant it touched him.

The burly body seemed to have been hit by a cannonball; a large hole suddenly dented into its broad chest, and the body flew out with a flash of blood, almost grazing the heads of many council members, before finally crashing viciously into a pillar of the Piltover Council with a thud and embedding itself in it.

Silence, stillness, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Even before entering the venue, the might of the Great Ferocious Jackal Dragon in Tallinn had already been fully activated.

A large amount of fear-inducing agents were transmitted into everyone's bodies through the air, but they did not explode. Instead, they provided prolonged, minute stimulation to keep everyone's spirits high, making everyone present extremely sensitive.

Now, all the mediums of fear have erupted, and an indescribable panic has begun to spread among the crowd.

But just then, a calm female voice rang out from within the crowd: "Silence!"

Mel stepped out of the crowd, a trace of fear lingering in his eyes, but more so a solemn and composed demeanor.

"Officer! Remove unauthorized personnel! Protect the scene!!"

Upon hearing this, some law enforcement officers on the periphery seemed to wake up from a dream, gripped their weapons tightly, rushed towards the inner perimeter of the hall, and nervously aimed their guns at Tallinn.

"Let's see who dares!"

Upon seeing this, Qiyana's face also showed a look of shock and anger.

Although she came to Piltover for diplomatic purposes, Qiyana never truly respected Lady Piltover in the slightest.

Especially during his conversation with Tarin, it was confirmed that Piltover lacked true strength; even Vi, whom Tarin had knocked away with a single punch, could be ranked among the top five strongest individuals in Piltover.

He fought fiercely with Tallinn for more than ten rounds without being at a disadvantage!

And now, this group of ignorant fools actually dares to spout nonsense here, calling themselves "Ixtal monkeys"?

Almost instantly, the surrounding air was filled with geometric lines of the Primordial Axioms, possessing a beauty identical to that of mathematics.

This even attracted the attention of some Piltover scholars.

In the past, Qiyana might have been interested in offering guidance, but now, she just wanted to vent her anger.

"Pass on my orders!" Qiyana said coldly, "Immediately blockade the Sun Gate Strait! Don't let a single ship cross!"