-120- Fireworks?

"Hurry, Mel, this way!"

Pulling Mel along, Jayce shouted loudly while running.

This action immediately caught the attention of residents. A squad of enforcers, upon hearing the noise, quickly arrived at Jayce and Mel's side.

The flashlight illuminated Jayce and Mel's faces.

"Councilor Medarda, Councilor Talis, what are you two doing? Wait, what happened to you?"

The captain of the enforcer squad instantly recognized Jayce and Mel, holding a short gun and addressing them.

"Quick! Level one alert! We have an enemy invasion!"

Jayce immediately shouted at them. There were five enforcers, and for a moment, they couldn't understand Jayce's meaning.

Enemy? Where did the enemy come from?

Mel appeared in front of Jayce and loudly commanded, "Immediately, right now, sound the alarm!"

Under Mel's command, the captain of the enforcer squad quickly took out a signal gun from his waist and fumbled to disassemble it.

"Whoosh!"

Accompanied by a blue signal flare shooting into the sky, Jayce, Mel, and the five enforcers quickly gathered and rushed towards the center of Piltover's square.

The Piltover Science Building and the Airship Center were connected, and this place was far from the central position of Piltover. Therefore, even though the signal flare had been sent, Jayce knew that enforcers from Piltover would be challenging to arrive in a short time.

Not to mention... it was still in the middle of the night!

During their escape, the captain of the enforcers finally understood what Jayce meant by an enemy invasion.

From the distant corner of the intersection, there was a sound of intense footsteps. Then, Wilton appeared in front of Jayce and the others with nearly a hundred soldiers.

"Not bad. I thought your forces would start to react after dawn!"

Wilton laughed and walked towards Jayce, holding a short hammer in one hand and gripping a head in the other.

Lifting it high and throwing it towards Jayce, Wilton, in a cold tone, said, "Come here and face your death!"

In the light, Jayce saw the person on the ground. It was a young Piltover man wearing enforcer clothes, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, his body limp and twisted, his limbs contorted, and his head already at a horrifying angle.

"You! You killed him!?"

Jayce witnessed a death scene for the first time, especially one so gruesome. He felt his stomach churn, and his hands almost slipped off his hammer.

Beside Jayce, several young enforcers were also horrified.

Only Mel frowned. "It's just death, Councilor Talis. Haven't you ever seen someone die?"

Wilton raised his hand, smiling coldly. "No need to be surprised. Soon, I'll make you look just like him."

"Fire!"

Following Wilton's command, dozens of heavy archers behind Wilton loaded long arrows, aimed at Jayce, and shot towards his position without hesitation.

"Run!"

Jayce pushed Mel away and stood at the forefront. He took a deep breath. Facing the incoming arrows, Jayce twisted the Mercury . hammer's handle and then slammed the hammer in front of him.

"Hmm."

Facing the rapidly approaching arrows, Jayce felt uneasy, but at the same time, to protect Mel and these enforcers, he bravely rushed forward.

He stood in front.

The ground was shattered, and a humming sound continued.

"Haa!"

"Lighting Field!"

With Jayce's roar, a barrier with a radius of fifteen meters appeared around Jayce. The yellow barrier extended in front and behind him.

"Crackling."

The sound of crackling continued, and with the collision of several yellow thunderbolts.

"Boom!"

In Wilton's unbelieving eyes, those arrows, after entering the Thundering Field, quickly slowed down and were struck by one yellow lightning after another, eventually breaking within the field.

Jayce panted, although he had experimented many times, this was his first real battle! And the first time facing such a powerful enemy like Noxus.

Not far away, Wilton looked at the nearly hundred of their meter-long heavy arrows broken around Jayce, while Mel and several enforcers had already run a short distance.

To this, Wilton exclaimed, "Stevan, is this also the power of hextech?"

Stevan looked astonished at the scene. This was already stronger than the technology of the Ferros family!

Jayce Talis. He must die!

Stevan nodded and shouted, "Yes, sir, this is the power of Hextech."

"Viscount Boklan did a great thing. With this power, if the Empire possesses it, the Freljord, the Ionians, and even Demacia in the west will be insignificant!"

"Axe wielders, get your shields up!"

Wilton waved his big hand. "Kill him!"

The bloodthirsty veterans rushed forward.

Jayce also quickly carried his hammer and fled.

He needed to find a place where he could block them, and Piltover had many such places! Just a straight alley, a narrow one-meter-wide alley would be enough!

Familiar with Piltover, Jayce quickly found the place he was looking for. Wilton observed the young man not far away; his once elegant noble attire now stained and soaked in sweat.

Jayce Talis nervously gazed at Wilton.

Wilton could sense his fear, seeing the trepidation in Jayce's eyes, tightly pressed lips, and his figure swaying. However, even so, Jayce stood firm.

"Talis, do you intend to stop us alone?" Wilton glanced around. They were in an alley, with a hundred soldiers chasing Jayce. The rest, led by Wilton's guards, swiftly attacked various major families in Piltover.

Wilton aimed to conquer Piltover overnight. 

In this narrow alley, where at most three or four people could pass at once, Jayce stood as an obstacle.

"A smart choice, Talis," Wilton grinned.

To be honest, he developed some interest in Talis at this moment—not just because of his weapon but also his seemingly futile courage. However useless the courage might be, it was still commendable.

"Please call me Councilor!" Jayce shouted.

"Councilor?" Wilton first looked puzzled, then, the next moment, understanding the politics, he burst into laughter.

"Are you trying to tell me that your status is the same as mine? Just a Councilor of a small city-state. How dare you face a Noxian general!"

Wilton waved his hand, and three soldiers advanced with shields.

Meanwhile, Jayce kept calming himself until he felt they had entered his attack range. Jayce raised his hammer high.

"To the Skies!" 

////It's the skill name, doesn't sound that impressive....////

The target wasn't the soldiers but the ground beneath them.

"Boom!"

Yellow thunder reappeared as Jayce's hammer struck the ground. A three-meter-long arc of lightning shot from the hammerhead.

"Ahhhh!"

In an instant, the three Noxian soldiers in front of Jayce were paralyzed, emitting black smoke. The smell of burning flesh reached Jayce's nose as he looked at the Noxian soldiers electrocuted under their armor.

Jayce, facing Wilton ahead, declared loudly, "I will protect the future of Piltover!"

---

"All, quiet, quiet!"

Piltover was in chaos. The invaders had caused panic in the city in the early morning.

With no central strategy, no army, only a few hundred enforcers maintaining order, the enforcers found it hard to resist the Noxian military.

Marcus stood on a high platform, holding a megaphone, shouting, "Don't panic, don't panic!"

Just a while ago, Marcus had bid farewell to his daughter.

"Dad, why don't you come with us?"

"Because I'm the sheriff."

"But why did you become a sheriff? Let's run away together; they kill people!"

When his daughter held his hand and asked this question, Marcus fell into contemplation.

Why did he become the sheriff?

Now, Marcus found the answer. It was to protect.

"Damn it!"

Though he had shouted himself hoarse, the scene remained chaotic. Everyone was running west, toward the port.

But, that was the direction of the Bridge!

On the other side of the bridge was Zaun!

"Marcus!"

Amid the chaos, a voice called out to Marcus.

He quickly turned around to see a curly-haired woman standing in front of him.

It was his mentor—Grayson.

"What you need to do now is not stand here with a megaphone but organize the enforcers, arm them, and prepare to resist the Noxian attack!"

Grayson wore a stern expression as she addressed the bewildered Marcus.

"Give me the megaphone!"

Marcus quickly handed it over.

Grayson took the modified Hextech megaphone, pushed Marcus aside, and stepped to the front of the platform.

After taking a deep breath, Grayson shouted, "Everyone, be silent!"

"I am the sixty-seventh sheriff of Piltover, Grayson!"

"Beside me is the sixty-eighth sheriff of Piltover, Marcus!"

"I'll say a few words!"

"Now, let the robust men walk at the back. Those brave enough to wield a gun, and any enforcers willing to fight....!"

Grayson paused, then raised her modified double-barreled gun with one hand and fired a shot into the sky.

"Boom!"

"Follow me!"

---

At the same time, battles erupted across various parts of Piltover.

Although Piltover's weapons were novel and powerful, facing Noxian soldiers who embraced death fearlessly, the resistance crumbled instantly.

In an alley, Jayce held his transformed Mercury Hammer, exerting pressure on a lever. After a forceful push, the hammer changed its form.

Mercury Cannon!

Jayce, drenched in sweat, furiously unleashed arc lightning. In the dark alley, there were moments of daylight and moments of darkness.

"Boom!"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!!"

Countless blue lightning orbs shot out. A single collision was enough to knock down several Noxian soldiers.

Seeing this, Wilton no longer hesitated. Holding a heavy shield and a short hammer, he charged.

Upon nearing Jayce, Wilton swung his short hammer forcefully.

"Dong!"

A blue barrier appeared, causing Wilton to furrow his brows.

Talis had held this position for half an hour, single-handedly blocking him and a hundred Noxian soldiers. If this spread, Wilton would lose all face.

"I want to see how long the energy in this broken hammer can last!" Stevan revealed information, making Wilton unperturbed.

"Everyone, step back!"

Wilton looked at the concave barrier and took a short hammer from a soldier nearby. He grinned, saying, "Let me deal with him!"

---

Zaun.

Kai'Sa raised her head, observing an unusual expression in the sky.

As a top Void hunter, Kai'Sa had keen senses. She could see bursts of fire and hear strange explosions.

Vaguely, Kai'Sa could even hear cheers? But it seemed not to be cheers. Yet, what was happening in Piltover?

It was already late at night, yet it was so lively. Did Piltover have another festival? It wasn't Progress Day now!

"Why didn't Lin tell me about this?"

With these thoughts, Kai'Sa entered the house.

Then, she walked to Linwin's door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"What's wrong?" In the blink of an eye, Linwin opened the door, looking at Kai'Sa in surprise.

"It's lively outside."

Kai'Sa said to Linwin.

"Lively?" Linwin looked puzzled at Kai'Sa, not understanding her meaning.

Kai'Sa continued, "Upper city is so noisy today, with blue smoke and fireworks. Is there a festival in Piltover today? Otherwise, why are they setting off fireworks?"

"?"

"What? You'll understand when you come out."

Kai'Sa led the way to the balcony, and Linwin quickly followed.

Then, on the balcony, both of them looked up at the sky.

"Look, there's that blue smoke everywhere," Kai'Sa spoke.

"???"

"Kai'Sa, that's not fireworks; that's the thick smoke from signal flares," Linwin said, covering his face.

What fireworks? 

That's the light of the signal....huh?

A signal flare?

"WTF!"