Chapter 469: Ashe's Generosity
Udyr's sudden change of identity caused the scene to fall into an eerie silence.
Everyone was looking at him. Only Olaf was still charging, shouting and swinging his axe.
"Let's take action! Locke..."
"Bang!" Galio knew how tough this guy was. This time he stepped on him and didn't move away.
The battlefield finally returned to complete peace.
Finally, Sejuani couldn't help but ask, "Udyr, you... you know them?"
"Yes." Udyr nodded.
Then, he looked up at the sky with an moved expression, and saw those familiar faces.
He has a deep connection with the leaders of Germany such as Lux, Sona, and Silas.
During the decisive battle of Baru, Udyr, together with Lee Sin, followed the monks of the Silana Monastery and joined the anti-No united front led by the Wind Leader, fighting side by side with Lux, Sona and others who were still part of the Debon Expeditionary Force at the time.
And Sona happened to be born in the Silana Monastery.
The master monks who helped Udyr practice were also acquaintances that Sona had known since childhood.
Therefore, the two parties are not only comrades-in-arms, but also brothers and sisters from the same school.
Later, they became like-minded comrades. It was not until later that Lux and the others had to participate in Baruo's practice of the warrior reform, and Udyr returned to the Silana Monastery with Li Qing to continue his practice, that the two sides lost contact.
With these three relationships, Udyr naturally developed a deep friendship with those German leaders.
"Comrade Lux, Comrade Sona, Comrade Sylas..." He could call out the name of almost every Demacia leader flying in the sky.
"Comrade Udyr! Why are you here? We thought you were still in Ionia!" Lux and others were also very surprised by his appearance.
"Not long after I returned to the monastery, I completed my final training." Udyr also answered enthusiastically: "Afterwards, I returned to my hometown and found my former tribe - you know, the Winter Claw."
"What about you?" He showed a hint of expectation: "It looks like you have succeeded in your struggle in Demacia, right?"
"Yes, we succeeded." Lux smiled and said, "Although it's just a small step, but..."
"Enough!" Sejuani finally couldn't help interrupting the heated conversation between the two sides, which was like the reunion of old friends in a foreign land.
She finally came to her senses: "Udyr——"
"These Demacians are the leaders you mentioned?"
"Yes." Udyr nodded.
Sejuani's heart sank. They were already losing, and their strongest fighter Udyr suddenly transformed into the opponent.
"Why is the Wind Leader here?" She could only ask through gritted teeth: "Why is he here with Ashe?"
"And you... have you been working with them to plot against me from the very beginning?" Sejuani was a little skeptical. Was this a trap set by Udyr, Windleader, and Avarosa from the very beginning?
"This is just an accident. Don't forget, my suggestion was for you to come back to Ionia with me. It was your own choice to come here." Udyr choked Sejuani with this sentence.
"And..." Udyr looked up at Lux and others.
He said confidently, "They are not with Ashe, but with the Freljord people who need help."
"Sejuani, I believe that as long as you are willing to live in peace with them, they will help you selflessly."
"I..." Sejuani's face was extremely conflicted.
"Live in peace? You mean, let me surrender to Ashe and those Germans?"
Although Ashe had no choice but to surrender yesterday, this did not prevent Sejuani, who knew nothing about the inside story, from regarding her "brother in distress" as a leader.
Asking her to surrender to her old enemy? How could she bear this?
What's more, she was about to be crowned the King of Freljord ten minutes ago. She was asked to surrender now?
This psychological gap was too great, and Sejuani couldn't accept it.
"No! Udyr, I don't care whether they are leaders or Debones, whether they are the living saints you mentioned or shameless villains, I will never surrender to them!"
"Winter's Claw, never surrender!" Sejuani was gritting her teeth, preparing to give an impassioned speech.
"Okay, no problem." But suddenly such a response came from the sky.
"Huh?" Sejuani was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Lux who said this.
She thought it was Lux's sarcastic mockery.
Unexpectedly, this Debon girl told her in a serious tone: "Warm Mother Sejuani, you don't have to surrender, and we don't need you to surrender. We just hope that the war can be ended as soon as possible to avoid meaningless casualties."
"If you want, you can take your people and leave now."
"Of course, if you are still willing to get along with us, you can stay here. This city of Laxtak and the surrounding land can be given to you, the Winter Claw."
"Huh?" Sejuani even doubted her ears.
The warriors of Winter Claw also felt their hearts skip a beat when they heard this.
They were clearly about to lose, but the other side gave them the land for free? Is there such a good thing?
"Yes, Sejuani." Ashe confirmed very sincerely.
She stepped forward and explained, "I have decided to lead Avarosa's people to move to Frost Harbor."
"If you need it, you can stay in Laxtak."
"Why?" Sejuani looked suspicious.
Rakstak is not only the site of Ashe's long-established business, but also the "heart" of the Freljord.
Whoever can gain a foothold in Rakstak will be able to use this city as a center to project power to the entire southwestern ice field, and then control the most fertile land in Freljord.
Whoever can control this land will be able to accumulate more food, recruit more tribes, and then become the king of Freljord.
There have been hundreds of large-scale wars over the Lakstak area throughout the ages, and it is difficult to say what was right and wrong.
But all the war mothers noticed that it was this ancient city that determined the rise and fall of many tribes, so there has been a saying of "Fighting for Lakstak" since ancient times.
But now, Ashe told everyone very seriously that she didn't want this place anymore?
And give it to Winter's Claw for free?
"Warmother Ashe!" Not to mention Sejuani, even the Avarosan warriors who stayed in the city were stunned.
Everyone thought Ashe was crazy.
But Ash still said seriously: "Trust me, everyone."
"Lakstark can no longer satisfy our yearning for a better life. In Frost Harbor, there is a more promising future waiting for everyone."
She really meant it.
Along the way, Lux let Sona share more memories with her, allowing her to fully understand the outside world and how much change the world is facing.
Ashe realized that what Tryndamere said was right. This was a once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity for the people of Freljord.
There are hundreds of billions of subsidies for Jiaduoduo. Anyone who misses it is a fool.
So, Ashe agreed to the early cooperative development plan for Freljord proposed by the Leader - that is, to move the main force of the Avarosa tribe to Frost Harbor in the west.
Frost Harbor is close to the sea and adjacent to Demacia.
Although this port cannot avoid freezing in winter, the transportation conditions here are ten thousand times better than those of Lakstak, which is located on the vast ice field and blocked by numerous mountains.
Moreover, Frost Harbor was originally the old capital of the Avarosa tribe and the "dragon's birthplace" of Ashe's ancestor.
Ashe chose Rakstak as her capital in order to "establish her rule in the Central Plains" and unify Freljord.
But now the main theme of the Freljord era has jumped directly from unifying the ice field to modern construction and development.
In today's globalized era where sea power is paramount, industrialization construction around the world must definitely start from coastal areas with shipping and transportation advantages.
Compared to other regions, the situation in Freljord is even more special:
Due to the extremely harsh natural and transportation conditions on the ice field, even the generous Zaun Leaders Association is cautious about the plan of fully supporting the reconstruction of the Freljord.
The reason is simple: construction on frozen soil is extremely difficult and the cost is too high.
The Leader does not yet have the ability to develop the ice field, build railways and cities on it.
To carry out such a large project, there must be matching productivity. Otherwise, it would be like Emperor Yang of Sui building a canal, which would bring disaster to the country and the people.
Moreover, even if the Leader really has the ability to build a number of modern industrial cities on the ice field...
Due to the additional costs brought by personnel heating, equipment maintenance and transportation, it remains a question whether these cities can operate healthily in the long run.
You should know that the population of Siberia has been slowly returning to Eastern Europe since the 1960s.
Then, over time, as those large, easy-to-mine, high-profit mines were exhausted, the return on investment in permafrost development dropped significantly.
By the 1980s, due to the international environment of internal and external troubles, the oil and natural gas developed at high cost in the permafrost zone could not be sold at a high price, and some large-scale projects were left unfinished.
In the decades that followed, without the central investment transfusion, the permafrost cities, where transportation, construction, production and living costs remained high, accelerated their decline under the competitive environment of the market economy. The urban population in the permafrost zone also decreased sharply year by year.
This provided Levi with a lesson.
The productivity controlled by the Windleader today is not as good as that of his predecessor, and the climate of the Freljord is more extreme than that of Siberia.
The development of ice sheets must be done with extreme caution, otherwise it would be like growing corn in the permafrost zone, which would be both labor-intensive and costly.
What's more, people are naturally fond of warm and favorable environments.
The people of Freljord are now eager to leave the ice field and settle in warm and humid places like Mithril City. However, due to racial differences, some people still have doubts.
When all of humanity becomes a community with a shared destiny and there are no longer any racial barriers or restrictions between countries, then these Freljord people will surely migrate south in large numbers in pursuit of a better life.
They can stay away from that bitter and cold land and start a new life in Demacia, Noxus, Ionia, the Twin Cities... any place they like.
Therefore, the pace of permafrost construction cannot be too big.
Otherwise, people might .
In short, in one sentence: "The Wind Leader is only willing to and can only help build a city in Frost Harbor. If you want the people of Avarosa to live a modern and good life, you must go to Frost Harbor."
This is what Lux said to Ashe on the way.
As the old capital of Avarosa, a piece of land where large human settlements can be naturally formed, Frost Harbor and the western peninsula of the ice field where it is located naturally have abundant exploitable resources.
Forests, coal, iron ore, fisheries, all of these are in abundance.
Although the Avarosa Alliance is already the largest tribal alliance on the ice field, when you really count it, the total population under the rule of this alliance only adds up to a few hundred thousand.
Hundreds of thousands of people were already too many for the Freljord people to imagine.
But for the leaders...
By cutting down trees, digging coal, and opening mines in Ningshuang Port, and then building several large-scale fishery, aquatic products, coal mining, steel, and shipping companies according to local conditions, it is entirely possible to build Ningshuang Port into a city that can accommodate hundreds of thousands of people.
But this city is just a small city to the leader.
This small coastal city can take advantage of its geographical location to provide industrial support to the Kingdom of Demacia to its south, which is in the process of fully launching industrialization construction, and provide Demacia with the various raw materials such as minerals, energy, timber, etc. that they urgently need.
With transportation conditions, location advantages, natural resources, foreign aid, and market support... it is very easy to build a modern city that can accommodate hundreds of thousands of people here.
After learning this, Ashe was convinced.
"What do you mean?" But Sejuani still didn't quite understand.
She didn't understand what Ashe was talking about industrialization and modernization, even though Udyr had talked to her about it many times along the way.
She had never lived outside the ice field, so she could only understand it vaguely:
Ashe suddenly lost her mind and gave up her role as the Ice Queen. She decided to move back to Frost Harbor and help the Germans cut trees, mine and smelt iron, becoming an assistant to those leaders.
"Really? I don't believe it!" Sejuani couldn't accept this statement: "Even if you want to move, can you really hand over Rakstak to us, the Winter Claw?"
"We are enemies. Aren't you afraid that the Winter Claw will gain a foothold here and grow stronger?"
"This..." Ashe was also helpless.
If she had not seen the outside world through the memories of Tryndamere, Sona and others, and had not personally seen the magnificent scenery of Silver City before setting off, she would have found it incredible.
But now, her vision has broadened and her pattern has become bigger.
The Avarosa people who stayed behind felt that she was ceding land and paying compensation.
The Winter Claw warriors present suspected that she was setting a trap.
But only Ai Xi knew that she was cooperating with the leader to carry out "relocation of poverty alleviation".
The Freljord is about to start industrialization, but Rakstak is a piece of rotten land that can barely grow barley for one season... Apart from the ignorant ice people who would treat it as a treasure, who else would value it?
Industrial construction requires a large number of people to move into the city. People must move away, and this piece of land must be vacated.
That's why Ashe was so generous that she even gave up her own base.
As for the threat of Winter's Claw?
"To be honest." Ashe sighed helplessly: "We decided to give you this land just to deal with your threat."
"What do you mean?" Sejuani was puzzled.
"Because a nomadic hunting tribe that migrates around on the ice field is much more difficult to deal with than a settled tribe that farms and grazes."
It is more difficult to deal with roving bandits than stationed bandits.
It would be a real headache if Sejuani hid in the vast ice field all day long and rushed out to seize Frost Harbor at the first opportunity.
Once she and her tribe "sat down" in Lakstak, they began to farm, graze, mine, and smelt iron. They had food reserves and industries, and they changed from being barefoot to wearing shoes...
Then she would be much easier to deal with.
"Asshole!" Sejuani finally came to her senses: "You look down on me?"
It is more difficult to deal with roving bandits than stationed bandits. The premise of this statement is that the regular army is absolutely sure of defeating the bandits.
Otherwise, the bandits are too powerful and it will be impossible to wipe them out even if they take over. Then they are no longer called bandits but separatist warlords.
Now, in the eyes of the Leader, Sejuani is just a small character who can be killed at any time as long as he doesn't run away.
"How dare you underestimate the Winter Claw..." Sejuani's dignity was offended.
But Lux just spread her hands and said, "Warmother Sejuani, don't worry about what we think of you."
"In short, we will definitely move the population of the Avarosa Alliance away from here step by step."
"So in one sentence—"
"Just tell me, do you want this piece of land?"
"I..." Sejuani choked suddenly.
Looking at the city in front of her that she had always dreamed of, she couldn't help but feel moved.
This is free land that can be cultivated and grazed.
By occupying this place, the Winter Claw will no longer have to travel around looting and plundering, nor will they have to let people starve to death.
The children in the tribe can finally have enough food to eat.
"Is this... true?" She asked the question again hesitantly.
Lux's answer was: "Warmother Sejuani, there are some things I say now that you may not believe."
"So if you want to leave, leave. If you want to observe first and then make a decision, stay here and observe. In short, no matter what, we will not actively attack you."
"Well, do you want to go?"
Sejuani was confused.
She looked back at Udyr with a questioning look in her eyes.
“You can always trust the Wind Leader, just like you trust me.” Udyr said sincerely, “Besides, it is Winter’s Claw who is in an absolute disadvantage now. Even if Comrade Lux wants to harm you, she doesn’t need to use these tricks.”
"..." Sejuani was silent for a while.
After a long time, she finally made a decision: "Let's go——"
"Retreat ten miles away and set up camp!"
