LOL: Summoner of Goddess Jana

Chapter 431 Shurima Development Prospects (Two in One)

While Nasus chatted with Taliyah, the brigade gradually approached their destination, the city of Vikola.

It is still a miracle that such a city can be formed in the depths of the desert, even if it is now desolate and dilapidated.

And there is only one reason for this miracle, that is, there is a precious resource that can support a city's population-water.

And this is why Taliyah and his party chose to come here.

The water attracted enough people to form cities.

The nearby desert tribes and the desert merchants going north will spontaneously gather in this city in order to replenish the precious water resources.

Therefore, the leader only needs to go to this Vikola city to meet all kinds of desert tribesmen, find them to understand the details of this desert, and complete the social background investigation of the eastern part of the Shurima Desert.

So, where does the water source of Vikola City come from?
"Mother of life." Nasus sighed melancholy as he looked at the dry riverbed gradually emerging in front of him.

This long river that miraculously appeared in the depths of the desert is the source of water for Vikola.

However, the part of it that appeared on the surface has completely dried up, leaving only a wide riverbed that was mostly buried by wind and sand, still telling about its past turbulence.

Fortunately, although this big river has stopped flowing, it has not completely stopped flowing.

Although the long river on the ground has dried up, the underground river is still running quietly.

Here, deep groundwater benevolently rises to the surface, forming a small constant lake.The lake nourishes the oasis, and the oasis nourishes life.

This is also the reason why the decaying and dilapidated ancient Vikola city can still exist so far.

"Is this the Mother of Life?" Taliyah hadn't seen it before, but she knew the river too.

This river is the spiritual totem of all Shurima people, the source of life that is said to nourish the land of Shurima.

Its importance is like the Nile River is to Egypt - that's why it is called the mother of life.

The mother of life in the story has abundant water and many tributaries. It is said that it originated from the capital of the Shurima Empire, and transported the sweet spring water to every corner of the Shurima Desert like a spider's web.

As a result, the lonely Shurima Desert was revitalized, oases grew from water, and cities rose from the ground, eventually creating a prosperous and prosperous ancient Shurima Empire.

However, any Shuriman who is even a little older will know:
These beautiful legends are nothing but stories to deceive children.

In reality, the mother of life does not have any vast torrents at all, and it would be nice to have a dry riverbed outline that is not completely buried by yellow sand.

"She flows like the sea, using the tide to feed people and the crops they cultivate. She is the grain of wheat for food and the cotton for clothes."

Sivir next to her was still reciting the ancient Shurima poem praising the mother of life.

As for Taliyah, looking at the lonely and withered scene in front of her, she couldn't help asking Nasus, "Mr. Giant."

"In the ancient poem you taught Sivir, it is said that the mother of life is 'the grain of wheat' that is eaten and 'the cotton that makes clothes'."

"Could it be that crops and cotton can still be grown in the ancient Shurima desert?"

Growing crops is water-intensive, and cotton is even more so.

Scientists in Piltover have previously studied that it takes 1 to 1.2 tons of water to produce one kilogram of wheat, and 5.7 tons of water to produce one kilogram of cotton.

With so much water, can this dead river in front of me really provide it?

Even Populus euphratica and cactus can barely survive in this desert, so how can there be living space for delicate crops and cotton?
Taliyah could not believe that the old legends about the Mother of Life were true.

"Oh." Nasus sighed deeply.

"It's true." There was a look of memory in his eyes: "Our mother of life is far greater than you imagine."

"Taliyah, according to the legend you heard, the Mother of Life originated from the capital of the Shurima Empire, right?"

"Yeah." Taliyah nodded numbly.

This is also what she couldn't figure out the most.

The capital of the Shurima Empire is located in the center of the desert, with the Gobi Desert stretching from east to west, north to south.

In the center of this desert, in the jeopardy of life, how could a great river that can be hailed as the mother of life emerge out of thin air?
"Because the source of the mother of life is actually not the capital of the empire, but the Targon Mountains on the westernmost side of the desert." Nasus said, "It is the meltwater from the snow-capped mountains of Targon that brings life to this desert. source."

"Targon?" Taliyah frowned slightly.

She has been to the Targon Mountains.

After she left the tribe that year, she followed the Targon mountain range on the west side of the desert all the way north to the Noxus colony on the northern shore of Shurima.

While passing through the Targon Mountains, Taliyah did see what Nasus said was melting water from the snowy mountains.

The melting water from the snow-capped mountains rushed down from the high mountains, converging into countless streams and rivers, all the way to the east into the Shurima Desert.

"However, as far as I can see." Taliyah said, "The streams did not change the environment of the desert after they entered the desert."

"Maybe they dried up very quickly after entering the desert."

Taliyah did not specifically investigate the hydrological environment downstream of these streams.But she knew that if the water had any effect, Shurima wouldn't be the way it is.

"Not to mention, from Targon to Vikola"

Mount Targon is on the west side of the desert, and Vikola is on the east side of the desert, spanning thousands of kilometers from east to west.

Can the melted water from the snow-capped mountains really withstand the scorching sun of the desert without losing or evaporating along the way and traveling thousands of kilometers to get here?

"Under natural conditions, no." Nasus replied in a deep voice, "But in the Shurima Empire, yes."

"How?" Taliyah asked eagerly.

If what Nasus said is true, it means that the ecological environment of the desert can actually be artificially changed.

And as long as there is such a method, then the ancient Shurima people could do it, and the current leader will certainly be able to do it too.

Taliyah believed so.

She looked forward to the day when Shurima could see spring again, with flowers blooming on every branch.

"No, you can't." Nasus just shook his head.

He was not mocking, but sighing: "After the fall of the Shurima Empire, no one in this world can do it anymore."

As he spoke, he began to talk about the basic principles of ancient Shurima's great project of "sending water from west to east".

"Actually, the melting water from the snow-capped mountains sent by the Targon Mountains to the Shurima Desert is already sufficient."

"And these waters didn't dry up completely after entering the desert. They converged into three big rivers—the confluence of the lower reaches of the three big rivers is the capital of the Shurima Empire."

"Oh?" Taliyah was puzzled: "You mean, the capital of Shurima is actually a place with abundant water?"

"No." Nasus shook his head again: "When those big rivers flowed to the capital of the empire, they were actually completely dried up due to the excessive water evaporation brought about by the high temperature environment along the way."

Although the capital of the Shurima Empire is located at the confluence of three rivers, it is also the end point of the three great rivers, and it is a place severely short of water.Otherwise, it will not be buried under the deep yellow sand and become a restricted area for life.

"But that's just the appearance."

"What is dry and dry in the capital of the empire is only the surface riverbed."

"Most of the melting water in the giant mountain snow mountain was not evaporated by the sun along the way—it was gathered deep underground, and formed an 'underground ocean' at the bottom of the Shurima desert."

Nasus spoke amazing words.

Under the dry and water-scarce Shurima Desert, there is actually a vast freshwater ocean!

"Yes." Under Taliyah's surprised gaze, Nasus confirmed seriously.

But before Taliyah expected to speak, he poured another basin of cold water: "But this underground aquifer is really too deep."

"With the strength of human beings, it is impossible to drill through the formation and take out the water from the depths of the ground for use."

"Even if you are the leader, the science and technology you are proud of will never be able to do it now."

Nasus was telling the truth.

Taking water from the depths of the ground for the use of the whole of Shurima is as outrageous as blowing up a hole in the Targon mountain range and diverting the humid water vapor from the west bank to moisten the desert.

Even if the people of Zaun screwed up the screw, they still can't unscrew such a powerful water pump.

What's more, the water pump also consumes energy.

The water extracted by burning alchemy fuel, the price of water should not be more expensive than oil?
The leader is not a big fool in the Middle East, where did he get so much money to engage in desert agriculture.

"That is to say." Taliyah thought about it: "In the ancient Shurima Empire, humans not only have the technology to create a 'continental water supply center', but also have an almost unlimited cheap energy source that can be used?"

"Right." Nasus nodded.

Ancient Shurima really has this kind of black technology.

This "black technology" is.
"Sun disc." Nasus had a complicated look in his eyes.

The sun disc is a magical spectacle created by the protoss who stole the mighty power of the Star-Forging Dragon King.

It can extract the infinite energy of the stars in the universe and send it to Runeterra continuously.

Ascendants call this energy astral energy, and they also call themselves god warriors and sons of the sun who possess this power.

And the function of the sun disc is not only to create ascenders.

"It is also a huge water pump driven by astral energy, which will continuously draw groundwater from the depths of the ground and transport it to the surface, forming a majestic river that can cover most of the Shurima region."

"That's why in the legend, the source of the mother of life is in the capital of the empire."

"Because in a sense, this great river did indeed originate from the capital of the empire, from the solar disc."

Taliyah was shocked by the historical truth told by Nasus.

She didn't expect that the ancient Shurima people's solution to the problem would be so simple and rude.

Drive the "plug-in" presented by the celestial giant, use the almost unlimited astral energy to extract groundwater, and then artificially create a majestic river to moisten the vast land of the Shurima Desert.

And that's exactly what happened.

Moreover, Li Wei has long known this.

Because as a "prophet" who is familiar with the plot, he knows that in the original world line, when Azir was resurrected, the sun disc was also rebuilt.

Later, Sivir took advantage of the revived Azir not paying attention, and left the capital alone under fear.

And not long after she left, she saw "a three-foot-high wall of azure water rushing along an ancient river bed."

Azir is the Tsar, not Aquaman——

Obviously, this majestic tide that appeared out of nowhere should not be Azir's personal masterpiece, but the great power from the sun disc.

"This" Taliyah stared at Nasus.

After confirming that he was not joking, she fell silent.

Sun disc?this
How can leaders learn from this?

"That's why I said, you can't do it." Nasus sighed.

Not only the leader can't do it, he can't do it either.

After the Sun Disk collapsed, the Mother of Life lost its water, and Shurima was effectively dead.

It is like a mummy whose blood has been emptied, and it is impossible to resurrect it.

Because without water, there will be no large oases, no sufficient population, no cities can be formed, and empires cannot be built.

"Using the words of your leaders, productivity determines the relationship of production."

"And Shurima's productivity level has regressed back to an extremely low level since the sun disk collapsed. Shurima's social civilization has also irretrievably regressed from the empire era to the tribal era."

That's why Nasus has been living behind closed doors for 3000 years.

Because he knew that no matter what he did, he would not be able to save the empire that had turned into a "mummy" due to lack of water.

Without the power of the Sun Disk, Shurima would never have returned to its former prosperity.

This is a question of productivity and a limitation of the natural environment.Even if Nasus is as strong as a god, he can't solve it.

"So I really want to know—" Nasus looked at Taliyah curiously: "How do you leaders plan to solve the development problem of Shurima?"

"Uh..." Taliyah stopped asking immediately.

This kind of development strategy issue, the general direction issue, is generally discussed and controlled by the leader's high-level.

To answer this question, Li Wei and others must first understand the details of the Shurima region.

I don't know any details. People are thousands of miles away, relying on a little stereotype to talk and point fingers at the map. This kind of work is not feasible.

That is:

"It requires me to complete this social survey, go back and make a complete report to my superiors, and finally discuss and study it with the leader's Supreme Council before I can come up with a rough plan."

Helpless, Taliyah could only admit that she still had no answer.

"Yeah." Nasus nodded secretly, not disappointed: "Without investigation, there is no right to speak."

"It is also a kind of wisdom to make less empty talk."

"But." Nasus couldn't figure it out.

Even knowing the social background and details of the Shurima region, what answer can the leader give to Shurima's questions.

Could they help dig Azir from his grave, resurrect the Shurima Empire, and rebuild the Sun Disk?

"Taliyah, now you are the leader who knows Shurima best."

"In your opinion, is there any way to save Shurima now?"

"Um..." Taliyah was silent.

She couldn't find any way either.All that remains of this land is despair.

So Taliyah thought for a while: "The only way to relocate the poor in other places is to move the population of the desert area out of the desert."

"At least, the northern shore of Shurima has the conditions for industrialization."

"Industrialization will greatly increase the population carrying capacity of the land, and the total population in this vast desert is not too much."

"So the coastal area of ​​the north coast after industrialization is enough to accommodate the entire population of Shurima."

There are no people living in the desert.

Don't kill each other inside, let's all move to the coastal areas on the north coast to work in factories.

In addition, the northern shore of Shurima already has a lot of valuable minerals.

The alchemy fuel used by Zaun cars is mainly imported from the north shore of Shurima.

At that time, as long as the alchemy fuel industry is moved to the north shore of Shurima, which is the source of raw materials, and industrialization spreads across Runeterra, the demand for alchemy fuel in various regions of the world will increase sharply
That leader might be able to make the whole of Shurima rich just by selling oil and fuel.

In this way, isn't Shurima rising again?

"This" Nasus was silent.

With just one mouth, Taliyah abandoned 95% of the land in Shurima.

At that time, the entire population of Shurima will live in that 5% of the territory?

The Shurima desert, which once forged a brilliant civilization, will become a wasteland abandoned by humans from now on?

Nasus couldn't take it emotionally, though.
"This is indeed a good way." He could only admit that Taliyah's vision was very unique.

Concentrating all the Shurima people in the North Shore area and letting them live a modern industrial and civilized life is the best solution to the current problems in the Shurima area.

"How do you do that?" Nasus asked. "There are so many scattered tribes in the desert. It is not an easy job to move them out of the desert."

"This...maybe not as difficult as imagined." Taliyah thought for a while.

"It's the dream of every Shurima deserter to settle down on the northern shore with abundant water sources."

"As long as our leader integrates the northern shore of Shurima and is ready to accept immigrants, and then spread the news through the desert merchants—"

"I don't think we need to chase them away, those desert tribes will take the initiative to move to the north bank."

Like everyone wants to go to Piltover.

Running from the desert to the north bank, how can people chase this?
"Well, this is indeed feasible." After thinking for a long time, Nasus could only sigh in approval.

He can't find much fault with the leader's theory.

In terms of practice, they have both feasible ways to solve problems and the ability to implement ideas.

"Maybe, these people can really save Shurima?" Nasus thought to himself.

Although unwilling to admit it.But he believed more and more in the beautiful promises made by the leaders.

And during this time of thinking, Nasus and his party have unknowingly advanced a lot.

They rode their "horses" to the gate of Vikola City and stood under the ancient city.

Because of the drying up of the mother of life, the city has become dilapidated now.

Although the outline of the city is still there, looking from the gate of the city, you can only see a piece of weathered and decayed buildings, which make people feel no sense of prosperity and vitality.

However, at this moment.
The street was surprisingly lively.

I saw a large group of desert people in shackles, being escorted by Vikola's warlord fighters, walking along the street to the outside of the city.

They happened to bump into Nasus and his party who were entering the city.

"These are" Taliyah looked curiously at the ragged poor people: "Slaves?"

She stopped a warlord soldier who was looking good and asked him, "Where are you going?"

"Are you going to sell these slaves to the north bank?"

Vikola is an important supply point for desert business travelers heading north, as well as an important cargo distribution center.

Some desert tribes who are unable to travel far will sell their goods to Vikola, and then pass through Vikola's second-hand dealers, all the way north through the desert, and resell them to the northern shore of Shurima.

Among the goods brought by these desert tribes, the most common commodity was slaves.

So Taliyah instinctively believed that this was the tribal warlord who occupied Vikola and became the king and hegemony, and at the same time served as a slave dealer, escorting their goods to the north shore of Shurima.

However.
"Go to the north bank?" The warlord soldier looked at her mockingly: "Don't you know yet? Child."

"A group of guys called the Leaders came to the North Shore not long ago. They not only occupied Belgun, but also"

Taliyah investigated all the way, stopping and stopping for a long time.

She didn't expect that the news of the leader had spread to Vikola in the south one step ahead of her.

"In short, it is said that after this group of leaders came, the plantation lords of the major city-states on the north coast of Shurima were frightened and released all their slaves."

"Now no one in the entire North Shore dares to engage in slave trading, and will continue to buy slaves."

"Really?" Taliyah was a little surprised.

It was only now that she realized that the accident she caused more than a month ago had already brought about such a drastic change to the situation in Shurima.

Although the leaders only occupy a small Belgun, their prestige has shocked the entire North Shore.

The thousands of years of slavery in Shurima is about to end like this?
Taliyah was instinctively pleased.

But
"Friend." Nasus asked solemnly after pondering, "Since no one buys slaves now, what do you plan to do with these slaves?"

Hearing this, Taliyah's smile froze instantly.

She finally reacted belatedly.

She suddenly realized that the butterfly effect brought by the leader to Shurima may not be all positive.

Even, with the unexpected intervention of the leader, the sudden end of the slave trade, the situation could have been worse for those slaves.

After all, just think about it:
After suddenly losing the buyer, what will the seller do with the goods?

The economic crisis is coming, how do dairy farmers deal with milk?

"Oops." Taliyah's heart sank.

"How else can I deal with it?" The warlord soldier looked at Nasus's burly figure in awe, and then said impatiently, "Take him out of the city and kill him."

"You can't keep it, can you?"

(End of this chapter)