"Janna?!"
Li Lin's mind raced with surprise.
"It's me... Haven't you been calling my name all along?"
Her voice was feeble, almost intermittent, as if it could fade away the next moment.
"Today... I've expended too much energy... I must rest... You woke me... You, the faithless one."
Li Lin detected a hint of reproach in her tone, as if saying:
"I don't even have time for my own believers, yet I have to respond to someone who doesn't believe in me at all..."
The gods of the Runeterra were not devoid of emotions; not only the celestial warriors, but also the demigods born in the primordial ages, shared emotions similar to humans—love, hate, longing.
As one who ascended through belief to become a deity, Janna often interacted with humans and possessing emotions wasn't uncommon for her.
Li Lin knew that Janna could directly access his thoughts, so he didn't dare to speculate and immediately got to the point: "I can help you regain faith!"
"You humans... love to bargain... I know... you have conditions."
These words seemed to drain Janna of all her strength, and it took her a full minute to finish speaking.
"There are conditions, but that's something to discuss later," Li Lin hurriedly said, "The most urgent matter now is to dispel the haze!"
After three or four minutes, Li Lin began to think that Janna had fallen back into slumber. Just as he was about to call her name again, she responded succinctly, "I... cannot do it."
"I know you lack the power of faith, but I have gathered nearly two thousand people here. With my influence, I should be able to get them to give you strength."
Janna fell silent for a long time. "Faith without devotion... is useless to me."
"I know that, which is why I need your help, even a little."
...
Another anxious silence ensued.
Even the little girl next to the man who had just spoken couldn't help but ask curiously, "Big brother, what are you doing?"
"Don't disturb him," the man quickly covered his daughter's mouth and whispered.
Then, he, the old woman, and the people around, who also believed in Janna, nervously stared at Li Lin, who suddenly stood still in silence.
Especially the old woman, she just felt a familiar sensation, a sense of déjà vu.
Janna was here, talking to the child in front of her!
After what seemed like an eternity, Janna responded, "... What do you plan to do?"
"With the limited power you have now, how much magic can you perform?"
"I will do my best... I can only summon... a breeze at the breath stand..." She paused for a long time, trying to explain in as few words as possible, "Then... I will... sleep."
Janna sensed Li Lin's thoughts and added, "I cannot... reveal my true form."
Is it already this dire...
Li Lin's heart sank as he frowned, pondering a solution.
According to his original plan, although the air at the breath stand was still murky, he could already open his eyes.
Leveraging the fact that everyone just heard him being hailed as a mage, he intended to first attract the attention of the people present by claiming to have communicated with the Goddess of the Wind.
Then, he would let Janna briefly manifest herself next to him.
When the crowd was shocked, he would seize the opportunity to explain Janna's plight and the need for their belief to help her.
This way, by revealing the true forms of the gods, not only would it provide solace and hope to Janna's current believers, but it would also attract those who used to believe in her but lost faith due to certain events, as well as some who were undecided, directly into her "embrace."
However, the current Janna couldn't possibly do this, which made things a bit difficult...
Li Lin surveyed the surroundings and found that the vast majority of Zaunites who had received assistance from the mechanized workers were staring at him with reverence and respect.
Seeing him move, the old woman's heart pounded with excitement, and she couldn't help but ask, "Child, have you... communicated with the Goddess Janna?"
Li Lin hesitated for a moment. "She did indeed communicate with me..."
The Janna believers around him, including some who were merely "joining in the fun," couldn't help but gasp.
Li Lin had done so much for them, there was absolutely no need to deceive them in this matter.
Moreover, even if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, those who understood magic felt a sudden change in their mouth and the exclamation of the breath stand workers; they knew Li Lin was still a "mage."
That he could communicate with the Goddess of the Wind was not surprising at all.
"Oh my! The Goddess of the Wind has appeared!"
"So, the legends of Janna are true..."
"Janna above, please bless us to safely navigate through this crisis..."
"Nonsense, do you think we're commemorating someone during the Progress Day celebration?"
"Uh... isn't it to mourn those who died in the Great Collapse two hundred years ago?"
"..."
Hearing the discussions and reactions of the people around him, Li Lin's worries eased considerably.
It seemed that converting people's trust in him into belief for Janna wasn't as difficult as he thought.
At this moment, an elderly woman walked a few steps closer to Li Lin and saw through his thoughts.
"Child, do you want to help Janna harvest faith and ask her to help dispel the toxic fog here?" she asked.
Li Lin nodded instinctively.
"If you want to do it, go ahead. We will all support you and help you," the old woman said, showing a gentle and kind smile.
Not only her, but many people around Li Lin also cast encouraging glances at him.
Even the man's daughter stepped forward and handed him a bronze pendant engraved with a bluebird pattern.
"Big brother, this is for you."
"What is this?" Li Lin looked down and then glanced at the girl's father, politely refusing, "I can't accept this. This belongs to you..."
"Take it, Sir Li Lin," the middle-aged man shook his head and smiled. "I am a follower of the Order of the Wind Goddess and also a craftsman who makes small trinkets. Most of the bluebird talismans in the Order were made by me. There are many of these bluebird talismans in my home."
Li Lin took a deep breath and thanked the little girl.
Then, amidst the hopeful gazes of the surrounding crowd, his armor emitted a blue and white flame, lifting his body into the air.
Li Lin instructed the AI to activate the amplifier function and uttered a word softly, "Everyone..."
His voice wasn't particularly loud and easily drowned out in the crowded and noisy environment.
But when they saw him rising into the air, the chatter in the breathing station, including the people under the eaves outside, stopped simultaneously, and everyone looked up at the man who was saving them from disaster.
In the hall, apart from the intermittent sounds of breathing and the roar of the huge air filtration device, there was no other sound.
Li Lin paused for a moment, surveyed the crowd, and took note of the expressions of most people.
After a few seconds, he spoke again, "The accident that happened today caught us off guard. I have dispatched all the mechanical troops in Piltover to participate in the rescue operation."
"Later, help from Vander of the Lanes, Silco from the Border Market, Kiramman's family, and the assistance from the University of Piltover will arrive soon."
The crowd erupted in enthusiastic cheers.
Li Lin waved his hand, gesturing for everyone to quiet down. "However, the alchemical gas produced by this explosion will spread in the sewers, the mid-level plaza, and even throughout Zaun for several months."
"Even with respirators, it will still have unpredictable effects on the human body, which we cannot avoid."
"I can rush the production of a batch of air filters to be installed throughout Zaun, but it will take at least two or three months to completely purify the toxic haze."
With these words, the faces of the people present couldn't help but change slightly, and their mood became heavy again.
They were all poor people. If they hadn't come to the breathing station today, they would probably have lost their lives. They didn't have the money to enjoy fresh air, let alone respiratory filtration devices.
Even though life was extremely difficult, and they couldn't see any hope.
But they also strived to live for various reasons. Nobody wanted to die, and nobody was willing to die.
But the current situation dealt them a heavy blow.
"You must have a solution, Sir Li Lin, right?" a thin and weak teenager who looked about fifteen or sixteen couldn't help but shout.
"Yes, I do have a solution."
Li Lin paused for a moment, preparing his words. "I just communicated with the Wind Goddess, Janna. She is willing to help us."
There was a commotion inside and outside the breathing station.
Some faces were filled with hope, some with worry, and some wore expressions of doubt and disbelief.
Li Lin raised his voice, "But now, she has lost her faith, and after previously saving some people, her power is greatly weakened, even to the point of dissipating."
"If we can provide sincere faith to her, she can dispel this deadly haze for us, give us fresh air, and save us from this crisis!"
He deliberately changed the pronoun to "we," which could enhance the sense of identity among the people of Zaun.
Everyone started discussing the feasibility of this matter, but most people were asking how they could provide "sincere" faith to Janna.
Just then, the group of Janna's believers who had scattered earlier began to spread relevant knowledge to the people present, explaining their doubts.
To speed up the process of providing faith to Janna, Li Lin also instructed the mechanical troops to ask the elderly woman just now for the method, then recorded it with the AI, and spread it to more people.
After more than half an hour, most of the people inside and outside the breathing station began to interlace their fingers and close their eyes, silently chanting Janna's name.
Li Lin, who had landed, stood in front of the air filter, scanning the various expressions of the people in the hall, while also calling out to Janna in his heart.
Not long after, a voice clearer than before, tinged with a hint of etherealness, sounded in his ears, "I didn't expect you to be able to do this."
"Janna? Have you regained your power?" Li Lin's voice just fell, and before him, a beautiful woman dressed in a three-point silver-white silk outfit, tall and graceful, semi-transparent, appeared out of thin air.
She held a blue and green staff transformed from wind, her slender feet naturally drooping, delicate jade fingers lightly touching the air, her waist-length silver-white hair flowing in the almost stagnant air, and her eyes as blue as sapphires, captivating.
"The incarnation of the wind, at your service," she said with a faint smile.
Li Lin was stunned.
Controlling a virtual character in a game was one thing, but seeing her in reality was a completely different feeling.
"You..."
"I haven't fully recovered my strength. It's unlikely that I can dispel the entire toxic haze in Zaun, but I can barely blow away the nearby fog."
Janna didn't just manifest to Li Lin alone; everyone in the breathing station saw her and exclaimed in excitement.
She turned her head lightly, giving a faint smile to the many believers.
Then, she waved the staff in her hand, stirring up a fierce wind around her, gathering the remaining haze at the scene and around the breathing station, blowing it towards the Piltover Canyon.
But to the people's perception, this gust of wind brushed over them like a gentle hand caressing their faces, without any hint of harshness.
"Say hello to the wind of change!"
Time is running out, more will follow later.
(End of Chapter)