While most of the members of the Church of Balance were struggling to stabilize their mental state, Li Ke had already landed on Ionia. What made Li Ke heave a sigh of relief was that Ionia …
Didn't resemble his homeland at all.
If the information provided by Noxus about Ionia had some elements of the Chinese Empire, then the Ionia that Li Ke saw had very few elements of the Chinese Empire. It was more like a fusion of Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Although they were similar in many aspects due to the cultural transmission of their homeland, Li Ke knew that this place had nothing to do with his homeland when he saw the buildings, the iconic clothes, the ridiculously high cheekbones, and the sallow and emaciated appearance of the people.
"I feel inexplicably relieved."
Li Ke heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he saw a group of Ionians dressed in Noxus uniforms and a typical Noxus people approaching their fleet. The leader of the Noxus people revealed a look of disdain when he saw Li Ke. Then, after recognizing Li Ke's appearance, his expression turned into one of admiration in an instant.
"This is your admirer. He looks down on the weak Ionians, that's all," Nora explained.
At this moment, the commander of this region arrived before Li Ke and performed a Noxus military salute to Li Ke.
"Welcome to Lyken, General Reinhardt. It's a pity that we can't provide enough Noxus soldiers to welcome you. After all, we have suffered huge losses here and it's hard to gather enough soldiers."
He felt regretful that he couldn't use the brave Noxus soldiers to welcome his idol. After all, not everyone could single-handedly bring a kingdom into the territory of Noxus. But for Li Ke, in the memories that he saw, it was this commander who ordered the soldiers to slaughter and threw the alchemy poison into the defenseless villages. But he was still doubtful about the defenseless villages. After all, in Ionia, even the peasants were capable of casting magic. But this didn't stop him from feeling disgusted with this commander and wanting to kill him.
"I don't think it's because you threw the alchemy poison at your own soldiers, right?"
He mocked, but the commander didn't show any dissatisfaction. Instead, he revealed an ashamed and sorrowful expression.
"This is a land of magic, General Reinhardt. It's also because I'm not capable enough. If I don't do this, my predecessor will set off an earthquake at night and bury all of us. I was just a transport officer before, but now that I've become an officer because of the wartime decree, I have the duty to bring back the soldiers I brought … Isn't it better to let the enemy bleed and be cruel to the soldiers who are destined to die than to let the soldiers who can survive die tragically? "
Li Ke didn't say anything. Instead, Nora took over and instructed the Noxus people to prepare supplies and a place to stay. After all, even though not everyone in Li Ke's fleet would stay here, it was still a huge project. Therefore, she had no choice but to use the authority given to her by her military rank to operate the Noxus camp in Lyken to serve them.
Li Ke also saw the Ionians who submitted to Noxus. He realized that the Ionians' eyes were filled with hope when they looked at him. But when they looked at the Noxus people, they were filled with fear. On the other hand, when they looked at the Ionians who were obviously slaves, their faces were filled with excitement and brutality. They believed in the various creeds of Noxus more than the Noxus people and fully carried out the various punishments of the Empire. They threw all sorts of weapons at their own compatriots and urged them to serve the nobles of Noxus.
This scene made him feel unbearably nauseous. The familiar people and unfamiliar land gave him a sense of disorientation that he hadn't felt in a long time. That was why he didn't utter a word until he entered the camp that was prepared for him.
He knew that these people were the weaklings of Noxus standards. Even he felt disgusted by them, not to mention the Noxus officer who was the invader. But he also knew that these people weren't well-educated and only wanted to survive. But no matter what, those who bullied their own compatriots more than the invaders were nothing more than scum.
Their only ending was to be used as cannon fodder on the battlefield and they wouldn't be recognized as Noxus people. As for the Ionians who were accepted by Noxus as Noxus people, they either had strong wills and had no choice but to join Noxus for certain reasons or they were strong enough.
Not a single one of them had done so. They were destined to die on the battlefield against their own kind and suffer the disdain and hatred of both Noxus and Ionians. In the end, they became even more twisted and perverted, doing even more things that would cause them to be despised and hated.
This was a rather twisted sin, and it was also the inevitable outcome of betraying their own kind. No matter how beautiful the words and reasons were, they would always bear this sin.
However, all of this had nothing to do with Li Ke. As long as his plan succeeded, the twisted chains would temporarily end. However, what surprised him was that during the banquet, the evil man who ordered the massacre of civilians and poisoned all the farmlands asked him an interesting question.
"Do you think that we can make Noxus stronger by waging wars like this?"
The officer asked this question after drinking a lot of wine. In Noxus, anyone who asked this question would undoubtedly suffer the most tragic end because no higher-ups in the army would want such a low-ranking officer. They wouldn't let such a low-ranking officer live. The officer naturally understood this logic, but he still asked this question.
"I don't mean to question you, Grand Marshal. I just think that we might have a better way. After all, your contributions are so great and we haven't gained anything from this land."
His eyes were a little lost, but he continued.
"I've been sending soldiers here continuously. They wanted to let their families live better lives and make Noxus stronger. They wanted to let the farmers have their own goals. But I don't see any of them succeeding. None of the soldiers I sent here returned to Noxus and none of them were able to meet their families. Although our military equipment is getting more and more advanced, I can see more and more orphans in the Empire who can't eat their fill. Even though the Ionians have pledged their allegiance to us, they aren't willing to believe in our will … Why is that? Could it be that the young people who embrace the will of Noxus are also weak? Is their elimination justified? Have we … really made Noxus stronger? "
The officer's voice was a little faint. This time, he used his greatest courage to ask this question because he knew that he would die without a doubt. But he really wanted to know the answer. Could his hard work and sacrifice really bring useful things to the country he believed in?
But Li Ke's answer also surprised him because Li Ke gave him a question that he should have known the answer to long ago.
"Do you think that war is just?"
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