After returning to the Twin Cities, Caleb's face showed exhaustion he could not hide. Over the past few days in the ruined Black Mist, he had barely closed his eyes.
Now that he had returned to headquarters, Caleb immediately planned to fall into a deep sleep.
As for post-disaster reconstruction, he intended to hand everything over to Renata and the Council.
Now he could finally sleep in peace.
In a daze, it seemed like someone had stuffed a soft pillow into his arms.
Caleb did not think much about it. After hugging it tightly, he continued sinking into sleep.
Of course, before falling asleep, he did not forget to have Janna send Yaanogel back to Shurima.
When he woke up, it was already noon. Sunlight poured down from directly above, passed through Zaun's Dancewalk Promenade, and fell into the center of Zaun.
Caleb stared blankly at Kai'Sa in front of him, then finally shifted his gaze toward Yuumi at the head of the bed.
"I don't know anything."
Yuumi somewhat guiltily looked away.
Honestly, the Black Mist incident this time had not come quite as suddenly, but even so, Caleb had still exhausted almost all his strength to save the Twin Cities from Viego.
As for the other places, they had merely been helped along the way.
However, two more people had also followed him to the Twin Cities this time.
One was a handsome man who never spoke, and the other was Atreus, who had defeated the Aspect's will after overcoming the corruption of the Ruination.
Caleb knew that the silent, almost mute man was Aphelios, from Mount Targon's Lunari.
He had still been wondering why Diana had not become a Sentinel of Light this time. It turned out Aphelios had taken her place.
Compared to that, Caleb cared more about the fact that he had used the World Rune in many places across the world.
Those traces would definitely be found. Even the Sentinels of Light's teleportation magic would not escape Ryze's eyes.
In the Freljord, Caleb had at least observed Ryze leaving. Only after Ryze had already swept through the area for rune fragments had Caleb felt safe taking the World Rune out of his inventory.
Later, when facing Balestrider, Caleb had used it without the slightest concern.
However, in the Black Mist, Caleb had no idea where Ryze had gone.
Under those circumstances, no matter how he thought about it, the magical traces left behind by his use of the World Rune could not possibly fool Ryze.
That led to one problem, when Ryze came looking for him, how should he explain the rune on his body?
Just one fragment was enough to make Ryze fight to the death without rest. What Caleb had picked up was an entire piece.
"If I just say I found it, he probably won't believe me…"
Caleb silently thought about it.
The Sorcery runes were simply too useful. In fact, every rune was like that.
They combined mobility, offense, sustain, and protection. After collecting a complete rune, Caleb practically did not need to practice magic anymore.
If he returned it to Ryze and let him bring it back to the sealed place, Caleb would be safe and sound, but in that case, Caleb's own combat power would also drop sharply.
He still had to deal with the Void later, and Caleb really did not want to give up practical runes like Manaflow Band and Nullifying Orb.
But if he did not return it…
Then it would probably be a fight to the death, and Caleb was afraid he would be dragged too deeply into it as well.
If he ended up like Brand, Caleb would not be able to handle it.
So now, Caleb could neither hold onto this rune comfortably nor let it go.
…
[Mission complete. Please claim your rewards.]
The system's voice entered Caleb's ears at exactly the right time, and Kai'Sa shifted slightly.
Just as Caleb became extremely tense, she turned over, seemingly falling asleep again.
"Hah…"
Caleb finally breathed a sigh of relief. With one Arcane Shift, he got off the spacious bed and walked into the office beside it.
Now he could safely check the panel.
[Skill unlocked: Hijack.]
[Skill unlocked: Grand Starfall.]
[Physical Constitution enhanced to Lv40.]
[Skill unlocked: Going Rogue.]
[Item obtained: Kalista's Spear.]
[Item obtained: Moonstone Renewer.]
[Skill unlocked: Death's Grasp.]
[Shyvana and Atreus's favorability has automatically increased.]
[Item obtained: World Rune, Red.]
[Blueprint obtained: Super Galaxy Mecha.]
[Skill unlocked: Cosmic Binding.]
The series of rewards that followed shocked even Caleb.
Putting aside those divine artifacts and the acquisition of another World Rune, this truly seemed to have been a major event. This ten-plus-one reward was almost equal to all the rewards Caleb had received before.
These things could be said to be the peak of what Caleb could currently reach.
However, after that, no matter how Caleb called the system, it no longer responded.
"Was this the final reward?"
Caleb did not know why the system had gone offline, especially after giving out the rewards.
The system inventory was filled with all kinds of things, but Caleb was somewhat panicked.
With the system offline, the things he had to face later would no longer bring further improvements.
"Good thing my hand was fast back then."
A kingly sword longer than a person appeared in Caleb's hand. The aura of Ruination still lingered faintly around it.
This was what the Ruined King had left behind when he disappeared. Aside from this sword, Caleb had also wanted to pick up that suit of armor.
He had to admit, whether it was the gauntlets or the armguards, Caleb rather liked the Ruined King's armor.
However, after he disappeared, only this long kingly sword had been left behind.
Caleb did not know whether Kindred could bring those two to the realm of the dead, allowing them to reincarnate.
"Governor."
Caleb came out of the room feeling refreshed, and his physical strength had also increased explosively.
The runes did not need to surge through his body. With both the Sorcery and Domination rune paths in his possession, Caleb's energy was full.
But along with that came even more effects, Hail of Blades increasing his attack speed, Predator speeding up his approach, and Electrocute's burst damage.
Caleb increasingly suspected that he might not be able to withstand it.
"Morning."
Caleb had no intention of taking over the reconstruction work. He had handed all of that to the capable Renata.
If not for that great fire, then Renata in the original universe would probably have become an influential figure in the business world as well.
Yet because of that fire, Renata lost her parents and her arm.
Perhaps after that, the somewhat innocent Renata had died, leaving only the iron-fisted corporate magnate behind.
"Is the mecha progressing smoothly?"
Caleb walked quite a distance before reaching the outskirts of Piltover.
A secret chamber had been built here, and within it, the next step of the "Mecha" Project would take place.
Unlike the functional "beast," the "Alien" being manufactured this time would be used more for combat.
It would continuously evolve during battle, and it was also tied to living organisms.
Because of that, Singed had joined the mecha research this time as well.
Being able to establish a milestone and leave his name in such a lofty field, Singed was also determined to devote himself to it.
For any scientist, this was something impossible to refuse.
"It's going fairly smoothly."
Because Ekko had to lead the reconstruction of the Twin Cities, he had just happened to withdraw from this project.
A group from the Twin Cities, coming from two completely different cities, and conveniently also a master and apprentice, did not seem too bad.
"This is the next blueprint."
However, what none of them expected was that before the previous project had even been completed, the next blueprint had already arrived.
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