The next day.
Caitlyn had a habit of waking up early. On top of that, she had slept very comfortably last night, so she woke up just before the alarm clock rang.
She slapped the alarm clock on the head right as it was about to release its noise, then stretched comfortably, feeling especially refreshed from head to toe.
"That medicinal bath was way too effective..."
She muttered to herself as she got up. After changing her clothes, she soon left the house.
Before long, she arrived at Luke and the others' residence.
She found that everyone had gotten up quite early. The living room was already somewhat lively early in the morning. Everyone was still busy with their own things, yet there was a sense of harmony everywhere.
"Good morning, Caitlyn."
"Good morning."
Caitlyn returned Lux's greeting, then swept her gaze around the living room and could not help asking, "Where is His Highness?"
Lux, who was fiddling with a Rubik's cube in her hands, answered without raising her head, "He's making breakfast."
"Breakfast?"
A question mark practically popped up over Caitlyn's head.
A prince, personally making breakfast?
She even suspected that she had walked onto the wrong set.
But looking at the expressions of everyone in the room, it somehow seemed perfectly reasonable.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "I can speak to the councilors and have them send over a high-class chef."
But after thinking more carefully, that did not seem right either. There were so many capable people around Luke. Surely it was not possible that none of them knew how to cook, right?
"No need," Lux answered casually. "He's even higher-class than a high-class chef. You'll know in a bit. Look, I got one side's colors right!"
As she spoke, her eyes lit up, and she excitedly raised the Rubik's cube in her hand toward Caitlyn, sharing the joy of completing one side.
This was one of the gifts received at yesterday's banquet, and Miss Crownguard had discovered it this morning.
"That's amazing."
Caitlyn sat down on the sofa, feeling that her thoughts still had not been properly sorted out.
Higher-class than a high-class chef? How high would that have to be?
"It's nothing much."
Lux immediately became rather pleased with herself, then lowered her head and continued twisting the Rubik's cube, planning to complete the remaining sides.
Seeing how focused she was, Caitlyn did not say anything more to disturb her.
At that moment, she smelled an aroma drifting out from the direction of the kitchen. It was the scent of delicious food being cooked, and her stomach immediately responded with a rumble.
Lux raised her head and could not help looking over at her.
Caitlyn's face turned bright red, and she said in embarrassment, "I didn't really eat much last night."
"I understand, I understand. My stomach makes noise when I'm hungry too. But I usually don't give it the chance to get hungry."
Lux smiled lightly and did not continue.
Just smelling the aroma had suddenly made her hungry. This filled Caitlyn with curiosity toward the breakfast that was coming.
Even though she had prepared herself mentally, when a full table of sumptuous food was placed before her, she was still so shocked that her jaw almost dropped.
"These... were all made by His Highness?"
Her nose was filled with the fragrance of all kinds of delicious food, and before her eyes were breakfast dishes complete in color, aroma, and taste. She asked in astonishment.
"Who else did you think was busy in the kitchen?"
Luke smiled and said, "Try some. I'm still very confident in my cooking."
"Thank you for the meal."
Caitlyn politely picked up her utensils, then served herself a crystal soup dumpling onto her plate.
Looking at the translucent soup dumpling, she did not even know where to start eating it.
"It tastes best if you eat the dumpling first, then drink the soup."
Seeing her struggling to proceed, Lux could not help sharing her favorite way to eat it.
So Caitlyn copied Lux's method, first poking a small hole and letting the soup inside the dumpling flow into a small bowl.
Then she blew on it twice and ate the dumpling in one bite.
In that instant, she felt her mouth completely occupied by a rich fragrance. There was the soft and tender wrapper, the filling with its layered texture, and even a hint of seafood flavor.
All of those came together, and a perfect delicacy was born just like that. With this single bite, it surpassed every delicious thing Caitlyn had eaten in the first half of her life.
After the soup dumpling entered her stomach, she picked up the small bowl and drank the soup inside.
The soup tasted even fresher, as if repeating the process from just now, yet also like an elevation, raising the flavor of the dumpling to another level.
"This is too good!"
Caitlyn could not even think of how to describe how delicious it was. Her mouth, which simply could not stop eating, was the greatest praise for Luke's cooking.
She was utterly unable to imagine that this entire table of delicacies had been made by the prince of a great nation.
What exactly was there that he could not do?
The breakfast ended splendidly. Caitlyn had never eaten so much in the morning before. She felt as though her stomach had become a full circle rounder.
She was too satisfied. After eating her fill, a sense of satisfaction she had never experienced before rose in her heart.
She suddenly felt as though she had no regrets left in life.
Now she finally knew just how high "higher than a high-class chef" was.
After the meal, she found that everyone had returned to that leisurely state again.
Luke went to the terrace to bask in the sun, and Caitlyn could not find anything to do for the moment.
So she found Lux and suggested, "Lux, want to play five-in-a-row?"
Lux's hand paused as she played with the Rubik's cube. Then she looked at Caitlyn with the bearing of a master and said, "You are still too weak. Right now, you are not qualified to be my opponent. Defeat Annie first, then come challenge me."
As soon as she finished speaking, Annie, Lux's number-one little general, confidently went into battle. "I'll do it!"
Caitlyn did not know why.
But over the next few games, she kept feeling that the pressure Annie gave her was even greater than the pressure Lux had given her last night.
Time slowly passed just like that.
At ten in the morning.
A carriage had been prepared outside the villa. Luke sat in the carriage, ready to head to the meeting venue.
This time, he only brought Yurna and Navis with him.
Navis now looked as though she had grown quite a bit. Although her height still leaned toward the appearance of a young girl, she had gained a somewhat more mature air.
Along the way, she lifted the carriage curtain and looked around at the various sights of Piltover with eyes full of novelty.
Although she had already seen it yesterday, to her, it was still fresh.
Before this, Navis's dream had been to someday visit the City of Progress.
Now, Luke had brought her to fulfill that dream. Upon first arriving in Piltover, she found that everything here was exactly as she had imagined.
As expected of a city standing at the forefront of technology. She knew there was much for her to learn here.
Sooner or later, she would bring everything she had seen and heard outside back to Demacia.
Luke looked outside through the curtain she had lifted.
He had already noticed yesterday that in Piltover, there were many tall buildings under construction, one majestic structure after another rising from the ground.
They were already beginning to take shape.
Presumably, among them were the Hexgates.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the meeting place, a political hall whose exterior looked quite grand and solemn.
Outside the hall, Slap was already waiting there. Seeing the carriage come to a steady stop, he walked forward to welcome Luke. "Welcome, Your Highness. The councilors are already waiting inside."
Luke and the other two got out of the carriage, then followed Slap all the way to the meeting room.
Inside, the major councilors were waiting. When they saw Luke push the door open and enter, they all stood up to greet him.
Luke also saw Jayce. Beside Jayce stood a thin man with a pale face. He held a cane in his hand and seemed to have a lame leg. He also stood up and saluted.
After a round of greetings, Luke took his seat.
Heimerdinger, at the head of the group, spoke first. "Your Highness, let us speak frankly. This concerns the twin cities. At the moment, we need to know your purpose in coming. It should certainly be more than simply establishing diplomatic relations."
Luke looked toward him and smiled slightly. "Professor, you are correct. Establishing good diplomatic relations with Piltover is only one of the purposes of my visit. As for the second purpose, I believe everyone has already guessed it. Representing Demacia, I hope to receive support from hextech."
When his words fell, no one seated opposite him showed any surprised expression.
Because no matter how they thought about it, this was the only possibility.
This prince's purpose in coming was just like that of the Noxian warlord who had arrived some time ago.
Both of them hoped to obtain hextech.
"Your Highness, forgive my bluntness."
Heimerdinger thought for a moment, then said, "Hextech is something extremely critical to Piltover. You should understand our position. We are located at the central junction of Demacia, Noxus, Shurima, Ionia, and several other nations and forces. No matter which power we lean toward with hextech, it would be the same as sending a dangerous signal to the other places."
In terms of geography, Piltover occupied an extremely crucial location.
The reason it had been able to stand safely for so long at the very center of so many powerful forces was not because its own strength was overwhelming.
Rather, it was because it was like a dividing point, a place no one would easily touch.
That was why Piltover had been very smart. Since its founding, it had maintained absolute neutrality.
If today it chose to lean toward Demacia, that would be no different from announcing its position to everyone around it.
If danger came, the first one to be threatened would absolutely be Piltover.
"I know."
Luke's expression was calm as he said, "But I still maintain this wish and this attitude. Demacia has no intention of probing into the core of hextech. What we want is only cooperation with hextech. In particular, the Hexgates."
Hearing this, Heimerdinger said, "It seems you already know."
"That's right. I have indeed received information."
Luke smiled slightly. "According to my judgment, even for Runeterra as a whole, the Hexgates are an extremely meaningful invention. The inventors of this technology are absolutely geniuses."
"I imagine they are very honored to receive such praise from you."
Heimerdinger smiled, shifted slightly aside, and introduced them. "The ones who developed hextech and the Hexgates are precisely these two young men. Jayce and Viktor."
Upon hearing their names called, Jayce and Viktor immediately stood and bowed slightly to Luke. Then Jayce said, "On this point, we share the same view as you. The Hexgates are absolutely a one-of-a-kind innovation."
Receiving praise from someone like Luke made him feel somewhat proud.
Viktor likewise wore a faint smile and bowed to thank Luke for the compliment.
Piltover had not concealed the related information. After all, this was Piltover, and every day, outsiders from every corner of the world came here.
The creation of the Hexgate transit points simply could not be hidden.
So they had simply made it public. It was also precisely because of this that they had drawn in the Noxian warlord not long ago and now this prince.
There were actually many representatives from other forces as well, but compared to these two, they were completely unworthy of attention.
Only these two were people Piltover had no choice but to take seriously.
At that moment, Luke said, "Since you know that, then an invention that can cross long distances in a short time would be meaningless if the distance is not far enough. So I believe cooperation between Piltover and other powers is an inevitable trend. Why not consider Demacia first?"
"In truth, Piltover at this stage is still wavering on this matter."
Heimerdinger spoke at that moment.
They had already conducted many experiments with the Hexgates and confirmed that there were no problems.
In terms of innovation and meaning, they were absolutely unprecedented.
One had to understand that even if two places were thousands of miles apart, one could arrive instantly. What kind of concept was that?
A history-making concept.
But precisely because it might involve too many things, the council was still hesitating over the use of the Hexgates.
At present, they controlled the Sun Gates, and that had already brought Piltover enormous benefits.
The Hexgates would be an even more powerful existence than the Sun Gates.
After all, just thinking about the benefits that spatial teleportation alone could bring was enough to make them difficult to estimate.
But they were even more afraid that it would attract unimaginable disaster. For example, right now, Noxus and Demacia coming to their door had already made their scalps go numb.
So even though they held such an astonishing source of wealth in their hands, the councilors were not very eager to activate the Hexgates.
"Piltover is the City of Progress, not the City of Regression."
Luke cracked a joke with a smile, then said, "Since you are still hesitating, let's not talk about this for now. Let's first talk about what Demacia can bring to Piltover if we are to cooperate."
As his words fell, the councilors seated opposite him, as well as Jayce and Viktor, all became curious.
So Luke took out several Secret Keys he had prepared. The oddly shaped Secret Keys immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"I call this a Secret Key. It is a tool that can communicate and make contact regardless of distance."
Luke knew the introduction did not need to be too complicated. Everyone present was intelligent, so they could surely understand.
"Communicate regardless of distance?"
Heimerdinger was very curious about this invention. He was the first to reach out, picking up a Secret Key and examining it from left to right. "A magic crystal. This should be petricite, correct? Combining the two, why would that make such a thing possible?"
He discovered that the Secret Key in his hand did not have much overly intricate design. Instead, it was very simple, so simple that it could even be easily copied.
Of course, only if one had the materials.
What he was more curious about was how it accomplished such a thing.
The communication tool Piltover used was a type of voice transmitter. Because the transmission of sound required a medium, they had developed a special wire that could transmit sound.
In theory, if the wire were long enough, they could also contact one another regardless of distance.
But that was only theory. In reality, the quality of sound would be affected during transmission, meaning that once the distance was too great, it might no longer be easily conveyed.
And now, Demacia had turned around and told them that they already possessed a tool capable of making contact regardless of distance.
This was too difficult to imagine.
"The key to the Secret Key is not this."
As Luke spoke, he activated the Secret Key. The instant a window popped up, the people opposite him were immediately startled.
Without question, this was indeed a type of magic.
"Everyone can open one and take a look."
Luke smiled and continued, "The core of this technology is firmly in Demacia's hands. I call it Dreamnet. This is the true key. Any communication or contact we make is carried out through Dreamnet. However, if Piltover is interested in cooperation, we can open permissions and jointly improve and upgrade the Secret Key in the future."
"Dreamnet?"
Heimerdinger thought for a moment and guessed, "Could it be through the spirit realm?"
Luke nodded. "As expected of you, Professor. Your guess is very accurate."
"That should be impossible. Humanity's understanding of the spirit realm should only be limited to the level of visualization."
Heimerdinger examined the Secret Key from every angle and muttered to himself, "We are in the material realm, yet we communicate through the spirit realm. That means we can ignore the wall between the two. How was this achieved?"
Even he could not figure out the mystery within.
Luke smiled and said, "Since Piltover has already created the union of technology and magic, then connecting the material realm and the spirit realm is not exactly impossible, is it?"
"When Your Highness puts it that way, that is indeed true."
Heimerdinger suddenly felt as though he had been too attached to convention. It seemed that before this, Jayce's idea of fusing technology and magic had also been rejected by him.
At the time, in his view, that had likewise been impossible.
But now, this young man had not only done it, he had done it exceptionally well.
So there was nothing in the world that was impossible.
Thinking this way, breaking the wall between the material realm and the spirit realm no longer seemed so strange.
Next, Luke briefly introduced how to use the Secret Key.
As for this thing, the councilors, Jayce, and Viktor quickly got the hang of it.
They added one another as friends, then tried typing messages, short-distance video contact, taking pictures, and each function one by one.
"If this can truly ignore distance, then I believe this is an invention no less significant than the Hexgates."
Jayce held a Secret Key in his hand and spoke seriously.
He had only used it briefly, but he had already seen the countless possibilities this Secret Key possessed.
Viktor beside him shared a similar thought.
The possibilities the Secret Key could bring were in no way inferior to the Hexgates.
Contact without regard for distance, along with taking pictures and video communication. Just these few simple functions were already terrifying.
And this was only the starting point of the Secret Key. The Secret Key of the future was filled with even more possibilities.
The Secret Key was far too convenient, and easy to carry as well. The role it could play was continuous.
If it could be mass-produced, the benefits it could bring would also be a terrifying windfall.
"If the Secret Key is not limited to individual-to-individual contact, but instead has a zone created above it, allowing users to freely join. Or, above that, an information station freely available for browsing. It could easily replace the newspapers we currently use. Since it can make video contact and take pictures, does that mean we could record video and take photographs? If video could also be combined with a website..."
Jayce muttered to himself. He was something of a technology enthusiast, and just thinking about it briefly allowed him to imagine countless possibilities.
For a moment, it was so dreamlike that he felt as though it was not reality.
But when he came back to himself, he saw the councilors all showing thoughtful expressions because of his words.
He looked once more at the Secret Key in his hand and finally realized that Demacia had come fully prepared this time.
They were not simply here to ask something of Piltover.
Nor were they some greedy empire, only thinking of one-sidedly taking from them.
It was cooperation. Cooperation in the truest sense.
Because they had brought technology that even Piltover would covet intensely.
Jayce's muttering just now had already given the answer. Through the Secret Key, the things that could be realized might even surpass the Hexgates.
And Demacia was willing to open shared usage rights for the Secret Key. Of course, they knew that the true core was still held in Demacia's hands.
But even that alone was already more than enough.
Just like them, even if they cooperated with Demacia, the true core of hextech would also remain in their own hands.
"These Secret Keys will be given directly to everyone here. You may take them back and study them freely. Of course, the magic crystal represents the Secret Key's battery life. Once the battery runs out, the Secret Key will also shut down."
Luke smiled as he spoke.
"Using battery life as an analogy is very fitting."
At that moment, Heimerdinger was studying the Secret Key's interface. He knew it was produced through a magical reaction, but he had not expected Demacia to be so proficient in magic.
One had to know that they had only just reformed magic not long ago.
At this moment, Viktor subconsciously cut in and asked, "I would like to know, since this is a tool for exchanging information, if the Secret Key runs out of power, then after it is turned on again, how would information such as pictures be saved?"
Luke looked at him and said, "I forgot to tell everyone just now. These Secret Keys each come with an account. The account can be personally decided. If you don't like it, you can delete it and register a new one. Each account belongs only to the individual. If the Secret Key runs out of power, after restarting it, you only need to log in to that account again, and the information will still be saved."
"That is brilliant. This idea."
Even Viktor could not stop praising it.
Using an account to represent a fixed space, as long as Dreamnet existed, it would always exist there.
He had to admit that this Demacia had truly surprised him this time.
"Everyone can also add me as a friend first, for convenient contact in the future."
Luke spoke at that moment.
Everyone already knew how to add friends, so they began adding Luke one after another.
Viktor had also added Luke. He had not expected that he could actually have a subtle connection with such an important figure.
His mood was still fluctuating when he looked at the screen.
"You have successfully added 'Kick the Lame Guy's Good Leg Hard' as a friend."
Viktor: "???"
He could not help looking at Luke, only feeling that in his mind, this prince's image had undergone a small change in that instant.
Noticing Viktor's hesitant, worried, and slightly afraid expression, Luke coughed dryly. "Lux changed that name. Don't take it seriously."
The others also noticed Luke's name and could not help feeling somewhat speechless.
Was this a name a proper person would use?
Was this something a proper person would do?
For a moment, they also suddenly felt that this prince was not quite so high, nor quite so distant.
It was as though he had come a little closer to reality.
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