Chapter 203 Riven's Curiosity
Not long ago, on the commercial street.
"Wait, I'll go buy a newspaper." Riven suddenly stopped and said to her best friend and adjutant Marit.
"Newspaper? Oh." Marit couldn't help but teasingly curled her lips: "Captain Riven, when did you become a cultured person?"
Riven was an illiterate serf before joining the army. Later, she learned to read, but her cultural level was not very high.
She obviously had no habit of reading newspapers before.
"Nothing." Riven answered casually: "I just want to read the news about the Leader."
"Leader?" Marit frowned slightly.
"Yes, I want to know more about our enemy." Riven said.
Knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle; this is a truth that even a three-year-old child knows.
Noxus has always attached great importance to intelligence work. Wherever the imperial army goes, the "War Masons" responsible for espionage intelligence will go there in advance.
Whenever Riven fought in the past, whether in Demacia or Shurima, she was able to at least roughly understand the enemy's details through the intelligence channels of the war masons or the military information provided by her superiors.
But this time...
Perhaps it was because Zaun did such a good job of anti-espionage that the war stonemasons that Noxus was so proud of were never able to play their role.
As his superior, General Amistan not only did not provide his subordinates with detailed information about the enemy, but he also issued a death order, strictly prohibiting his subordinates from privately inquiring about the relevant information of the leader.
Riven is the leader of the Rune Swordsman Corps and has been stationed in Piltover for some time, but she still doesn't know...
What are the political aspirations of the enemy? How do their interests conflict with Noxus?
Why does Amystan regard the other party as an enemy, but is so secretive and does not allow his subordinates to understand the situation of the Leader?
Riven really wanted to know this.
In desperation, she could only learn about the enemy through the Piltover Daily.
"Why do you want to know this?" Marit disagreed: "As soldiers of the Empire, we only need to faithfully follow orders."
"But..." Riven hesitated and said, "I just want to know, what are we fighting for this time?"
You need a pretext for a war. Even a mad dog like Noxus has to find an excuse before biting someone.
The reason for attacking Freljord is that the northern barbarians raided the south every year, causing countless casualties among the Noxian border residents (and this is indeed the case). It is a reasonable defensive war.
The attack on Shurima was because the natives were ungrateful and attacked the law-abiding merchants of Noxus. It was to protect the legitimate trade of the South Continent.
If we attack Demacia, it will be easier to find an excuse.
Noxus and Demacia have been enemies for hundreds of years. There is no need to forge a claim. Just hang up a sign that says "punish violence" and you can encourage a large group of fanatical Noxian soldiers to fight on the front line.
As for playing Ionia...
That's of course because the land of Ionia is nourished by natural magic, and the grain yield is astonishingly high.
However, the Ionians have been closing their country to the outside world and "maliciously hoarding food", which has indirectly pushed up world food prices and caused innocent poor Noxians to starve to death.
This is really too much.
In order to seize food from the greedy Ionians, to obtain magical land for Noxus, and to prevent millions of people from starving, the benevolent Emperor resolutely decided to send troops.
…
No matter whether these excuses for war are reasonable or not, the soldiers of Noxus believe them firmly.
Only when the army has a legitimate reason to fight can it have high morale.
"And now ?"
"Why did we come to Piltover? Why did we fight the Leader?"
Riven really wanted to figure this out.
After all, she was a corps commander of some importance. As a commander, she should know this.
"Have you figured it out now?" Marit didn't seem to care. She just asked casually, "What do these newspapers say about those leaders?"
"Uh..." Riven thought for a moment.
Then, based on the articles in the Piltover Daily that criticized the Leader these days, she summarized the reasons why the Leader should be regarded as an enemy: "In short, according to those Piltover people:"
"They are enemies of the leaders because they trample on human rights, infringe on private property, undermine the democratic system, and threaten the oil world."
"They also accused the Leaders of carrying out massacres in Zaun, looting legitimate property, persecuting innocent businessmen, scholars, and intellectuals, building concentration camps, enslaving prisoners, and forcing them to work..."
“Wait?” Marit was a little angry. “Are these Piltover guys trying to criticize us, Noxus?!”
"Uh..." Riven thought about it seriously: "Probably not."
"From the perspective of the people of Piltover, this is really why they are enemies of Zaun."
"Huh?" Marit was a little confused.
Trampling on human rights, infringing on private property... In today's Runeterra, apart from Piltover, which country still cares about human rights? Is this a "war excuse"?
The strong trample on the weak and take away everything from them...isn't this very reasonable?
As a general of Noxus, she was completely unable to understand the way the people of Piltover thought.
"Yeah, so I'm also very confused..." Riven couldn't figure it out.
The so-called "crimes" accused of the Leader in the Piltover Daily News were simply insignificant to the Noxians.
They randomly massacred a city and were a hundred times more cruel than the leaders of the "Piltover Daily Plane".
And Noxus is not the world's police. They will not come all the way to fight against the Wind Leader just because he is "evil".
There must be other reasons.
"But why... General Amistan, didn't you let us know?"
Riven was very confused. And the more confused she was, the more she wanted to know, and the more curious she became about her new enemy.
"Well, I might know a little about this." Marit said hesitantly.
"Oh?" Riven looked over curiously.
Although Marit's position was lower than hers, she was of noble birth and had a much wider network of contacts than she, a Phoenix Girl.
Marit might indeed know more than she did.
"In fact, I don't know the details. I just heard from my superiors that the Wind Leader seems to be a true god cult."
"I have a general understanding of this." Riven nodded.
It is no secret in the Twin Cities that the Wind Leader is a believer of the Goddess Jana.
"Not only are they a cult of the true God, but they also possess terrifying magic that can invisibly brainwash people and make them convert voluntarily." Marit added.
"What?" Group brainwashing, this is really powerful.
"And this is not just an ordinary brainwashing spell - I heard that even among the war masons we sent over, 5 out of 10 defected to the enemy within half a month."
"Huh?" Riven was even more shocked.
If even well-trained war stonemasons can be brainwashed by the enemy, how terrifying must this leader be?
"No wonder General Amystan stationed troops in Piltover and trapped the enemy in a corner of Zaun..." She seemed to understand.
If the True God Cult, which possesses this horrific brainwashing magic, is allowed to grow and become stronger, it will definitely be a threat to the empire.
"But..." Riven still couldn't figure out something: "Even if the enemy has the power of mind control, they wouldn't completely block us from accessing their intelligence data, right?"
"Can we be brainwashed by reading a few articles about Wind Leader in Piltover across the canal?"
Right now, the entire Piltover is digging deep underground to search for Windleader's promotional materials, as if those small pieces of paper contain some kind of world-destroying magic that would subvert the world if not confiscated.
This made Riven curious. What was written in those booklets?
It's fine that the people of Piltover are not allowed to read it. Why are they, the people of Noxus, and even the officers of Noxus, not allowed to read it?
Could it be that these ordinary papers printed in mass quantities really contain some evil brainwashing spells?
“This…” Marit was not quite sure.
"Okay." Riven shrugged.
Marit had run out of information to reveal. She also didn't know where to get the Wind Leader's pamphlet to learn about the enemy she wanted to know.
So, the two were silent for a while.
And Riven finally took a step forward and walked towards the newsboy who was selling news in front.
"Give me a copy of the Piltover Daily." She stopped the newsboy and handed him two copper rings.
The newsboy took a look at the red and black Noxian officer's armor, and then tremblingly handed over a copy of the Piltover Daily.
Didn't dare take the money.
“…” Riven frowned slightly.
"Here you go." She took the initiative to hand over the money.
The newsboy still didn't dare to take it. He just stood there trembling.
"Tsk. Don't give it to him." Marit was a little impatient: "Do you want it or not?"
Riven turned back and patiently advised Marit: "The money that should be paid should still be paid."
"Didn't General Amistan just give us an order these past two days, asking us to rectify military discipline?"
Amystan has been governing Piltover as her own territory, and she certainly doesn't want this treasure chest to be destroyed by the reckless Noxian soldiers.
Only a civilized and progressive Piltover could earn her more money.
So after a period of chaos, Amistan finally began to restrain his subordinates and rectify military discipline.
Bad things that damage the image of Noxus, such as zero-dollar purchases, forcibly abducting women, and unlimited fighting between the military and civilians, are no longer allowed.
"Yeah...that's right." Thinking of the instructions from the regiment leader, Marit's attitude finally softened.
In addition, their officers' armor was very eye-catching, and many people were watching.
So she held it in for a long time, and finally managed a laugh.
"Take the money." Riven also said to the newsboy: "Our Noxian soldiers are not as bad as you think."
Well... at least it's not that bad in Piltover.
She added silently in her heart.
Meanwhile, Riven is working hard to demonstrate the "Pino friendship" and "the close relationship between the military and the people"...
Not far away, there was a commotion coming from a workshop on the commercial street.
A few drunk soldiers were making a lot of noise inside, attracting passers-by outside the glass windows to stop and watch.
“This…” Riven and Marit’s faces darkened.
The newsboy didn't even take the money and ran away in fear.
The passers-by around them looked at them unconsciously. Who made them wear officer's armor?
"Stop!" Marit finally couldn't hold back any longer.
She walked over quickly and kicked the door open: "Asshole, what are you doing?"
