Twin Cities: I am the man of many myths

Chapter 230 concludes with the unification of the North, and the clever Little Jin gives a grand discourse on the meaning of a nation!
"Alright, then Rilfin, I'll leave the rest to you and Jie. With Bai in tow, the three of you ancient gods should be fine, right?"

Rilfin and Jie had signed the contract. Hearing this, he nodded helplessly, while Jie remained silent, clearly angry.

Rilfin asked, "And what about them?"

“They have other things to do,” Li Ke replied.

Ahri and her companions were almost out of time and didn't have time to find a second or third Old God to coerce them into signing an agreement. Karma and Swain also had to return to their respective countries.

Janna was the same. She had been working hard all day and had almost used up her faith power. She had already transformed into a little bluebird and was hanging on Li Ke's shoulder, dozing off. She clearly needed to rest.

As for Lissandra, Lick did not command her. Although the sisters seemed to be very obedient to him now, Lissandra had other things to do and therefore could not participate in the Old God Hunt.

Upon hearing this, Rilfin hesitated.

With just him and the three gods, Lissandra, Anivia, and Volibear, they could roam freely in Freljord. After all, Ornn was currently in hiding, Anivia had disappeared, Volibear had fled, and the Supreme Lissandra was still "one of their own" on the surface. But capturing the gods and forcing them to sign a pact would be a difficult task.

Because a powerful being like the Iron Mountain Boar was determined to escape, Rilfin knew they couldn't stop them.

At this moment, Lissandra spoke up, "I will intervene if necessary."

Upon hearing Lissandra's words, Rilfin immediately nodded: "Okay, I understand."

This wolf is incredibly pragmatic, far too pragmatic.

Li Ke smiled at Karma and clapped his hands: "Well then, that's enough for now, Karma. Thank you for coming to help. If you need anything next time, just let me know. Anything is fine with me."

"Could you help me fight Noxus?" Karma suddenly asked.

“?” Swain, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and gave Karma a big question mark.

Li Ke also remained silent.

After a moment, Karma smiled and said, "I was just kidding."

"Alright, I'm going back now. If you need anything, Janna can contact me."

"Goo~" On Li Ke's shoulder, Janna raised one of her wings to indicate that there was no problem.

After Karma left, Swain also said, "Darius has returned to Direhorn. Thank you for this, Rick. Although I really don't understand, I only asked you to help find Darius, and only asked you to come to Freljord and make contact with the Winter's Claw."

How exactly did you manage to get things to this point? But I'm still grateful to you. Darius is very important to me. So, if you need anything, come find me in Noxus.

After saying this, Swain, with a complicated expression, also left.

He had previously collaborated with Leek because he knew that although Leek was very powerful and protected by the gods, he could also control Leek. Noxus could use Zaun to become stronger, thereby achieving Swain's goals. He trusted his own mind and the information he had obtained.

But Swain doesn't think that way now.

Because in the face of absolute power, all plans are nothing but empty talk.

After a giant lotus flower emanated from between Li Ke's eyebrows, Ahri knew it was time.

They grabbed Tristana, Ahri, and Riven, who were still somewhat unwilling and hadn't had enough fun, and the three of them returned to Spirit Blossom.

Rilfin had just taken up his post, and Rick didn't know what this ancient demigod was thinking. He had just been coerced into signing the agreement, so logically he should be very unhappy.

He probably felt coerced but had no choice but to become a bandit, but this guy was different; he was too dedicated. He turned around and took Jie and Bai to find a deity who looked like a mink.

After thinking it over, Li Kesi realized that this guy was probably the kind of person who would say, "If I'm in trouble, nobody else will be happy either!"
Yeah, Rilfin is probably that kind of guy.

"Then, Lissandra, let's go."

Li Ke looked at Lissandra and spoke.

A hint of worry appeared on Lissandra's usually cool face, a worry that hadn't even appeared during her battle with Volibear. But after a moment, she said, "Let's go."

Worrying is useless; what's meant to happen will happen.

As Li Ke said, Freljord should have been united a long time ago.

A divided Freljord can do nothing, but a united Freljord unleashes power.
Just imagine, a Freljord where no one dies in winter, a Freljord where geniuses can live well, the number of powerful Iceborn born on this land in the future will exceed everyone's imagination.

There is no such thing as genius in this world. You have to endure hardship to become a genius. Many geniuses die in their childhood because they lack protection. After all, if you asked me, how can a genius in his teens defeat a demigod?
For example, Demacia is a good example.

In Silas's story, it is said that when Silas was working as a henchman for the Demon Hunters, he passed through a village and discovered someone who controlled lightning and possessed inexhaustible magic. Judging from the quality of the magic within him, it even surpassed that of the Radiant One. Who is the Radiant One that Silas speaks of?

It's Lux.

Lux, nicknamed the "King of Kingdoms," crushes LeBlanc and kicks Syndra. Her magical talent rivals that of the ancients, standing shoulder to shoulder with monsters like Ryze, Syndra, and Karma, whose strength reaches the level of demigods.

Lux's only weakness is her age, and the fact that she missed the opportunity to train in magic as a child because of Demacia's ban on magic.

As a result, Lux's magic increased day by day, changing every single day.

Therefore, Freljord should be unified.

In the evening, Rick met Jinx.

Sejuani led the Winter's Claws back to their tribe. Jinx, accompanied by Donna, walked at the very front of the group. Upon seeing Rick, Jinx whimpered twice and then clung to him.

She didn't feel lonely because of it. After all, Rick was only gone for a little over a day. In the end, it was just Jinx's habit.

After Sejuani met with the tribe's carefree spirit and heard from Udyr about what had happened that day, she fell silent.

When Sejuani met Lissandra with Ashe, the complex emotions in her eyes intensified.

When they gathered together and began to discuss what Li Ke had said, Li Ke briefly explained the situation.

Sejuani immediately asked the question:
"I'm not against alliances and unification, but the problem is, after unification, who should everyone listen to? And whose name should the new clan use?"

Ashe really wanted to say to use Avarosa's, since Avarosa is the only legitimate one!
However, she discovered that she was the weakest in the entire group, both in terms of personal strength and tribal strength, so Ashe really thought about it.

Lissandra also spoke up, her voice calm and indifferent: "I don't care about this kind of thing. You and Ashe can decide. The Frostguard Clan and I will remain behind the scenes. Just let us know if you need us."

Sejuani nodded. Of course, she knew Lissandra wouldn't care about such things, after all, Udyr said that Lissandra had beaten Volibear today.

Therefore, Sejuani also realized a truth: she had always thought that the Winter's Claw was very powerful and could hold her own against the Frostguard Clan, but now she realized that she had been overthinking it.

If Lissandra really wanted to take advantage of her and Ashe, she only needed one night to remove Avarosan and Winter's Claw from Freljord.

Therefore, Sejuani was quite pleased to see that Lissandra was unwilling to compete for the title. Ashe felt the same way; if Lissandra wouldn't compete, then she and Sejuani still had a chance.

She does cherish her sisterly bond with Sejuani, but that doesn't mean Ashe will back down or give way to Sejuani in this matter.

She is the War Mother of Avarossa, and she leads the largest tribe in Freljord, with hundreds of thousands of people in just some of her branches, and Avarossa herself has a population of over 100,000.

She carries the weight of her people's trust in her; they have entrusted everything to Ashe, and Ashe will not back down because of personal feelings.

So, what followed was a showdown between Ashe and Sejuani.

Li Ke and Lissandra listened silently without saying a word.

Li Ke knew this was a necessary step, after all, it was Li Ke who pushed for the merger of Ashe and Sejuani.

However, the interests after the merger were not clearly defined by Li Ke. Lissandra and Ashe were not enemies, so they could not be treated like Rilfin and Jey. Therefore, when they fought, Li Ke, as an "outsider," could not intervene.

Until Jinx, whose lips were stained with white marks from eating yogurt, couldn't stand it anymore.

"What's so good about being the boss?"

Jinx muttered something to herself.

Ashe and Sejuani both looked at Jinx upon hearing this. Jinx was able to enter this tent, well, of course, because of Rick.

Well, Rick can command the gods, and even Lissandra listens to him now. His foundation is so deep that no one can ignore him. As for Jinx, the fact that she can control Rick is enough for everyone to take her seriously.

Even though she may seem like just a quirky, odd girl whose mind is always wandering.
Stared at by Ashe and Sejuani, Jinx paused for a moment, then immediately straightened her back, crossed her long legs, and sat up straight, placing her hands on her boots. She continued:
“I say, wouldn’t it be better if you all ruled together? Just like our Zaun and Piltover, the alliance is just to unite you, not to actually merge Avarosan or Winter’s Claw into another clan.”

Jinx said, her tone lecturing, "We're human, not beasts. Why can't you understand?"

"Co-governance?" Ashe hesitated. This was somewhat similar to her own idea. Avarosa wanted to unite all forces and build the largest clan so that the Freljord people could live well.

But Ashe hesitated, while Sejuani did not.

She said with some displeasure, "That's impossible. In Freljord, there are only conquerors and subjugators."

Jinx was speechless after hearing Sejuani's words. She rolled her eyes and mumbled while biting her yogurt spoon:
"Hey, that's the old Freljord now. You're about to make contact with the outside world, aren't you?"

Li Ke told Janna to go back and explain the situation. He said that Hilko and Jayce would send a large number of Zaunites and Lady Piltover to help with construction, building bridges, opening up mountain roads, and establishing Hextech bases.

In the future, it will only take you half a day to get to Zaun, and it will also take outsiders half a day to get to Freljord. Are you going to still be wearing animal skins and interacting with the outside world like barbarians?

"What you need to do now is build a nation, not a larger clan. Please understand this."

A nation can encompass countless tribes. Even if you can't change in a short time, you should at least let others know that you are one nation, right?

Sejuani and Ashe fell silent, while Lissandra looked at Jinx with a hint of surprise on her face.

She hadn't expected that this girl, whom she thought only ate and played, was actually quite intelligent.

If Rick knew what Lissandra was thinking, he would probably laugh at her.

Are you kidding me? Jinx is just... pretty smart, right?

She's so smart!
She just doesn't want to think about or ponder many things; with her intelligence, she learns everything extremely quickly.

The so-called geniuses are not good at interpersonal relationships. It's not that geniuses are unwilling to be so, but rather that they are not interested and feel that they don't need to spend time learning and navigating those social interactions.

Furthermore, as the daughter of Hilko and Vander, both of her fathers had been leaders, with Hilko now being the head of the city-state, Jinx didn't need to learn anything special. Every day, Hilko would call her over when he missed her, and she would listen to what Hilko had done that day. Over time, Jinx naturally understood.

She then corrected her, saying, "In my view, the nation and the clan are two different concepts. You probably don't understand what a nation is, so let me explain it simply."

A nation, simply put, is an organization with the legal right to use violence, possessing its own territory, people, sovereignty, and government. And you're probably going to ask again, what is a government? A government is…” Jinx rattled off a long string of words.

Xiao Jin is not shy at all; on the contrary, she enjoys being watched and is very satisfied with the feeling of being the center of attention.

What is the little madman afraid of?

Li Ke stared blankly at Jinx. It wasn't these things that he, a modern person, didn't really understand, okay? Although sociology had the relevant knowledge, Li Ke would just skim through the books and forget them, so how could he possibly delve into them?

And Jinx? What she said makes a lot of sense!

Didn't you see that not only Ashe and Sejuani were listening attentively, but even Lissandra next to them was listening intently with her eyes wide and lips pursed?

"Therefore, the difference between a state and a clan lies in law and blood ties, and whether there is government control, rather than being able to issue orders and control a large number of people simply because so-and-so is old or so-and-so is an elder."

If age alone could grant orders, what would be the point of having talented people? Just grab a bunch of turtles and ask for their opinions every now and then, wouldn't that solve the problem?

"You don't need to worry about it anymore, Sejuani. I know you'll be unhappy. Rick told me in private that you admire savagery and yearn for freedom."

But in reality, what you are doing is also moving in the direction of the nation, it's just a matter of which national path to take: city-state, empire, or ethnicity.

Ashe is following the path of Zaun and Piltover, a city-state system, while what you are doing now, in my view, is heading in the direction of Noxus and Demacia, an imperial system.

"What Li Ke wants you to leave is a nation-state, a nation that encompasses all Freljord people and belongs only to the North."

"To be frank, Sejuani, all you want is to be an empress, don't you?"

Jinx spoke eloquently and ultimately made her own judgment.

She reached out and grabbed the leg of lamb in front of her, eating it with gusto, her mouth dripping with oil, and said with smacking sounds:
"So even without Rick's intervention, you would still face this problem in the future, because you are already moving towards the direction of an early nation! Look, from clan to tribe, then to chiefdom, which is what Sejuani is going to do, and finally, to nation."

"So what exactly are you all agonizing over?"

After Jinx finished speaking, she patted Rick's thigh and wiped the oil stains on her hands onto Rick's leg.

At this moment, inside the makeshift tent, apart from Jinx eating lamb leg and drinking yogurt, everyone else was completely silent.

Ashe was terrified, Sejuani remained silent, and Lissandra was appreciative.

Only Li Ke was left speechless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

My Jinx isn't just good at science, she understands sociological concepts too!
Look at this, now you know what a genius is.

My Jinx is a genius!

(End of this chapter)