"I...it's okay..." Quinn said weakly with pale lips.

Unlike the owner who is very distressed now, Hua Luo is quite happy when he reaches the sea, and he can see the heroic posture of diving and catching fish in the distance.

"Oh, it's really hard for you, a girl who grew up in the mountains." Lestara touched Quinn's forehead distressedly.

Lothar and Quinn looked at each other, and then quickly staggered away. Their current relationship is rather awkward, and they basically maintain a state of never communicating unless it is important.

"Luo Ji, what's the name of the place we're going to board?" Lestara looked into the distance expectantly while giving Quinn a massage.

"Felor." Lothar did a lot of Ionia's homework these days at sea. In addition to the books Swain gave him, he also collected a bunch of other books to supplement his knowledge, "Ionia is the most On the island on the west side, there is a fortress on the island, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.”

"Built by the Ionians"

"Well, the Ionians used this fortress against Noxus, but it was breached a few years ago, and now Feilor belongs to Noxus."

Lestara's expression was a little sad: "Those people who lived there must be in pain, Noxus..."

Lothar looked around calmly and interrupted: "Shh...be careful with your words and deeds, this is Noxus' ship."

Lestara closed her mouth wisely, but the worry on her face remained undiminished.

When the fleet arrived, Lothar and his party walked off the deck.

"Sir!" A sergeant walked up to Lothar and gave him a military salute. "Lord Karan, the lord of Philor, heard that you are coming and is preparing to welcome you in the fortress."

Lothar cursed inwardly. He had no reputation in the Noxian army to be personally received by a lord. This is obviously because someone suspects the identity brought by his token and wants to verify it with the lord.

But Lothar is not easy to refuse, and can only agree.

"It seems that we can only stay in this fortress for one night tonight." Lothar said while observing the surroundings.

The fortress is very large, built by the sea, with atolls on both sides. In addition to merchant ships and transport ships, there were more than 30 large Noxian warships docked at the dock, and the guards with neat helmets were constantly patrolling the coastline. It seems that the evaluation that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack is not groundless.

"Do the Ionians also use artillery?" Lestara asked curiously, leaning on Quinn.

"It should have been built after the Noxian occupation, maybe..." Lothar stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Lestara almost bumped into Lothar's back and hurriedly stopped.

Lothar turned around and asked suspiciously, "Have you heard any strange noises?"

"No, what's wrong"

"No, it's nothing..." Lothar was a little absent-minded, and he always felt that something was wrong.

The land beneath my feet looked ordinary, just mud and sand, but when Lothar walked on it, she felt a hint of...

"Am I seasick too..." Lothar shook his head and walked towards the fortress under the guidance of the sergeant.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Ionia is rumored to be a magical land.

All those who have since set foot here claim that they have been transformed.

Whether it's true or not, no one knows.

Maybe you should try it.

- Piltover Travel Agency Brochure

Chapter 180 Lord Vastaya

Lothar was taken into the main hall of the fortress of Philor.

Quinn and Lestara were taken to the residence of the fortress, and they were regarded as Lothar's female companions, so they were not qualified to meet the lord.

Lothar stood in the hall, looking around.

This fortress should indeed be an Ionian building. The interior decoration is very simple, but it has a very harmonious atmosphere, but this atmosphere has been ruined by the fierce Noxian soldiers.

"I heard that a high-ranking official has come from the imperial capital!" A very rough voice sounded from behind Lothar.

Lothar turned to look, and the two were stunned at the same time.

It turned out to be a vastaya.

He was tall, wearing the black and red heavy armor typical of Noxus, and his back was arched high. It was difficult for a human to grow to be so burly, and Lothar needed to lift his head high to see his face.

He had a face that looked like a tiger and a lion, but the left side of his face was bald, with only crumpled blood and muscle, and it looked like he had suffered severe burns. His hair was as dazzling as gold, tied into small pigtails with a few gray strands in between, indicating that he was no longer young.

Two horns grew out of his temples, and were painted with strange runes. His three tails swept back and forth behind his buttocks, each wrapped around a knot of plate armor.

weird.

This is Lothar's first impression of this vastaya.

Vastaya was also surprised by Lothar. He touched his pigtails and made a gritty voice in his throat: "You used to be an Ionian"

Lothar nodded: "I am Luo Ji."

"Oh, it's strange, an Ionian with a high position in Noxus... but I'm not qualified to say that you are." Vastaya stretched out his five claws, claws more than Lothar's head Even bigger, "Show me your token."

Lothar handed the token to Vastaya, his golden bell-like pupils stared at the token for a long time, then stared at Lothar: "This token is given to you by Swain."

"It should be called the Grand Commander now." Lothar said, "You should also know that Darkwill is dead."

"Well, who doesn't know that someone from the imperial capital came to me two days ago for such a big thing to let me admit that the old emperor is dead, otherwise I will be killed." Vastaya threw the token back to Luo Sa, "Speaking of which, why didn't the great commander become emperor?"

"I don't know either. Who can know his mind?"

"The big man always has the idea of ​​the big man." Vastaya shrugged, "I am Karan, as you can see, I am a Vastaya, and the lord of Feilor."

"Well..." Lothar nodded, "I only brought two people with me. I will stay here for one night tonight and leave early tomorrow."

"Where?"

"Perform the mission."

Karan went around Lothar's back, but Lothar didn't turn around. He knew that cats like to stare at the backs of other creatures, so that they would feel that they had the initiative.

Karan narrowed his eyes. "Your Noxian language is fine. I don't recognize any Ionian accent."

"He's starting to doubt..." Lothar thought.

"I haven't been back to Ionia for a long time." Lothar chuckled, "I almost forgot the accent."

Lothar heard the deep breathing behind her.

A paw stretched out towards Lothar.

Karan patted Lothar lightly on the shoulder, walked to his side and laughed at him friendly: "Hahaha! Since you have important business, I don't ask much. It's a pity that you are only here for one day, otherwise I can Gotta take good care of you walking around."

"Thank you." Lothar also smiled at Karan, without reminding the big cat that the burn on his face looked particularly hideous when he laughed.

"By the way, even though you're only staying for one night, there is something I have to tell you." Karan pressed his claws on Lothar's shoulder harder, "You can go anywhere in this fortress, if If you are hungry in the middle of the night, it's fine to go to the female soldier's dormitory, but..."

Karan's face was close to Lothar, and Lothar could even smell the savage smell of beasts on him.

"You are absolutely not allowed to enter the mountain behind the fortress. It is a military area." Karan grinned, revealing teeth as sharp as daggers, "Do you understand?"

...

Lothar walked down the corridor of the fortress.

He had just told Lestara and Quinn about the departure time tomorrow, and was following a soldier to the room that had been arranged for him.

"Why is your lord a Vastaya, but I think the soldiers stationed here are basically human?" Lothar asked the soldiers walking in front.

"Haha..." The soldier smiled shyly, "Lord Karan, he used to be a Vastaya native of Ionia. I don't know the specifics, but I know that he was an empire that surrendered a few years ago. In exchange for the position of Feilor's lord."

"A traitor..." Lothar pondered and asked with a smile, "The lord is a lion, you must have had a hard time."

"No, you don't know how terrifying Lord Karan is when he launches."

Lothar chatted a few more words, and by the way, he wanted to tell the situation behind the fortress, but the soldiers were confused by two or three sentences.

Knowing that he would get no more information, Lothar did not continue.

"Sir, this is your room." The soldier stopped and handed Lothar a key. "There are empty rooms near you, so you can rest well without being disturbed."

"Thank you, you've got your mind." Lothar opened the door, suddenly stagnant.

He looked around suspiciously and said to the soldier, "Did you hear anything?"

"No sound."

"So...it's fine, maybe it's my delusion, maybe I'm a little uncomfortable just getting off the boat."

After the soldiers retreated, Lothar locked the door, took a shower and began to practice magic.

The progress of ice magic and blood magic is very smooth. For some reason, Lothar's speed in cultivating blood magic can keep pace with that of ice magic, and the more you practice, the smoother the progress. Lothar himself is surprised by the rapid progress. The difficulties and bottlenecks of blood magic recorded in the book, Lothar felt that he had never encountered it. Everything was learned naturally, and the progress was faintly on the way to surpass Lothar's current strongest ice magic.

"Could this be the reason that Vladimir was interested in me?" Lothar was a little confused, "I am a genius who cultivates blood magic."

Confused, Lothar went to bed and fell asleep.

"Hope this trip to Ionia won't be as troublesome as it was in Noxus..."

...

Karan took off his armor and slumped on his recliner.

He had always disliked this Noxian armor, and the feeling of direct contact between his muscles and the air made him feel alive.

But he knew he had to be a Noxian.

Must be.

"Ah..." Karan looked at the scenery outside the balcony. The moonlight was shining on the coast and the hills. The opposite side of the coast was his hometown, the land that humans call Ionia, but Vastaya prefers it. Call her the land of birth.

"It's been a long time since I went back..." Karan growled, his throat making a grunting sound.

He took out an old smoking gun, lit it, and took a deep breath, the smell of tobacco allowing him to relax for a while.

Karan turned the realization to another cliff, and even in the dark, he could clearly see the building on the cliff.

a temple.

This is what he guards.

clang clang clang clang! ! ! ! !

The sound of a huge gong broke the quiet night, and the entire fortress instantly turned into a waking lion.

And the real lion Karan also jumped up from the reclining chair, and the golden cat pupils were fierce.

"There are thieves!"

———————————————————————————————————————————————————

A native of Ionia, the Vastaya lion Karan is willing to surrender to our army, but only on the condition that he be the lord of Feilor.

Our army is currently fighting with the local Ionian rebels in Presidian. The military assistance and enemy intelligence provided by Karan will be very important to us and can greatly reduce our casualties. In my humble opinion, it is worthwhile to exchange his help as the lord of a small border island, and I hope Your Majesty will agree.

--Excerpt from Jericho Swain's book "The Battle of the Ionian Expedition"

Chapter 181: Intruder

The entire fortress was awakened.

Shortly after the siren sounded, the pier suddenly burst into flames, an explosion occurred on a transport ship, and the flames were particularly dazzling in the night.

Lothar quickly put on his clothes and went out, and an eagle chirped in the sky.

Lothar hurried to the place where Quinn and Lestara lived, encountering many soldiers hurried to the dock along the way.

"Luo Ji!" Quinn saw Lothar from a distance and waved loudly.

Lothar runs to Quinn: you let Valor fly out, what happened"

Quinn shook her head, and she temporarily forgot her embarrassment with the boy when she was on business: "I don't know, Hua Luo hasn't come back yet, Madam, she's staying in the room, I can't leave her."

"I see, be careful yourself." Lothar urged, "I'm going to see what happened. If you are in danger, let Hua Luo come to me, and I'll rush over immediately."

Quinn glanced at Lothar's back, who was leaving, with a complicated mood, and turned back to Lestara's side.

The wharf was very noisy at this time, but it was still orderly. Some were fighting the fire, some were pulling out the fire barrier, and some were looking for casualties. Most of the Noxian soldiers have undergone relatively strict training, and the troops rarely panic.

When Lothar arrived at the dock, Karan was already there.

This burly lion looked coldly at the ship that was completely engulfed in flames, and the firelight dyed his golden retriever brilliantly.

"Lord Karan." Lothar approached him. "What happened?"

Karan suddenly grabbed Lothar's neck, and Lothar did not dodge or evade, letting his huge claws clamp on him.

"Good ice!" Karan felt like he was grabbing an ice cube, and the hairs on the backs of his claws stood up.