After so many years, Jinx was far more familiar with Zaun's roads than Vi.
And unlike Vi, she knew where Silco was.
In order to see Silco before Vi did, Jinx quickly returned to Zaun, then headed straight for Silco's office.
"Silco!"
After pushing open the door, however, Jinx saw only Sevika sitting inside with a dark expression.
Seeing her, Sevika immediately stood and walked over with an unfriendly look, glaring at her fiercely. "You still have the nerve to come back? What did you do to Silco? I knew him taking you in back then was the worst decision he ever made!"
They still had not found Silco, and the first person she suspected was Vi, because Vi had also coincidentally returned today.
After that was Jinx.
Vi was her biological sister. Sevika knew this better than anyone, and this blue-haired brat had never forgotten her even now.
Maybe she was the one who told Vi where Silco was.
Facing Sevika's questioning, Jinx was completely baffled. She asked, "What do you mean, what did I do? What happened?"
Sevika reached out and grabbed Jinx by the collar, saying coldly, "You're still going to play dumb? All this time, what have you been hiding from us and doing up in the upper city? I don't believe you didn't know Vi was back."
Jinx was confused by her inexplicable anger, but she also sensed that something was wrong.
She said, "I only found out today too. I came back this time because I wanted to ask Silco why he said Vi was dead back then."
"You mean you wanted to ask him why he lied to you, don't you?" Sevika sneered. "If Silco had known Vi wasn't dead, do you think she would have lived until today?"
"So what exactly happened?" Jinx was still confused. Looking at the anger in Sevika's eyes, she explained, "I did hide the fact that I went to the upper city these past few days, but I wasn't deliberately refusing to tell you. I had…"
"What did you have?"
Sevika stared at her coldly, cutting her off, then released her. "To put it plainly, you only care about yourself. You've been like that since you were little. You've never understood what other people give up for you."
She could tell that Jinx was not pretending to be stupid. She truly did not know about this.
And that was precisely ironclad proof that she had not cared about this side at all.
At this moment, Jinx felt somewhat confused, but anger also surged in her heart.
She had no intention of letting Sevika talk about her like that.
Looking at her, Sevika said coldly, "Silco is missing. He's been missing since this afternoon. You know he isn't the kind of person who plays mysterious disappearance. Now Vi is back, so she must have done it."
"It definitely wasn't Vi." Jinx blurted it out. The anger in her heart also settled. Seeing the look in Sevika's eyes, she explained, "Vi was just about to come find Silco, so I came back ahead of her. Silco is missing? How is that possible?"
Only now did she react to what Sevika had said, and her heart dropped.
Silco was missing?
No wonder she had felt something was wrong ever since earlier. At this time, how could Silco possibly not be here?
And he still had not come out to see her.
"How is it not possible? You must be thrilled right now. With Silco missing, no one will disturb your reunion with your dear sister."
Sevika laughed mockingly and stared at her coldly. "Do you want to know why he went missing? That's right, it was because of you."
Jinx froze at once.
At that moment, Sevika walked toward the desk, pulled open the drawer, yanked out a few tickets from inside, and threw them onto the desk. "Look familiar?"
Jinx recognized them at a glance. They were tickets to Jan'ahrem's concert.
But there were four of them in Silco's desk. In that instant, she understood something.
"When you thought you were hiding it from us and happily playing with those upper-city people, Silco already knew about you. This is the one thing about him I can't understand the most."
"Even though he knew you were deliberately hiding it from him, he still went to listen to every one of your performances, in places you didn't know about."
Sevika looked at the tickets on the desk and only found it somewhat ridiculous.
And when her words fell, they struck Jinx's heart like a heavy hammer. She felt pain begin spreading through her chest, then out through her whole body.
Silco had actually come to every one of her performances?
"Why didn't he say anything?"
Jinx leaned against the wall and asked in confusion.
Sevika said coldly, "Go ask him. Oh, right. Now you don't even have the chance."
Jinx's breathing grew slightly hurried. She felt a little uncomfortable in her chest, but did not know why.
She looked at Sevika. "Did you look for him?"
"Believe me, I care about him more than you do." Sevika's tone remained flat. "Two hours after he disappeared, I had already sent people to look for him, but we found nothing."
She had also searched all the places Silco often went, but had not found a single clue.
What was certain was that something had definitely happened to Silco, and whether he was alive or dead was unknown.
But she did not have the slightest lead. She did not even know where to start looking.
Jinx lowered her head, her eyes flickering unsteadily. Clearly, she had realized this too.
On the streets of Zaun.
Zaun could also be called a city that never slept, because this city avoided sunlight all year round and had no distinction between day and night.
So the people here were the same.
To them, day was night, and night was like day.
This city of steel ran twenty-four hours a day without stopping.
Even though it was already the time when many upper-city residents had gone to sleep, there were still plenty of people moving through the streets of Zaun. People came and went, just like usual.
"Where are you planning to find Silco?"
Caitlyn followed beside Vi and asked.
"I have a few friends. If they still recognize me, they should be able to give me some clues."
Vi kept both hands in her pockets as she replied.
She had not talked to Powder about Silco at all, so tonight, she could only rely on herself to find Silco.
Right now, she was going to meet some acquaintances she used to know in Zaun.
However, after that, she and Caitlyn went to the fish shop on Wonka Street, Gulan's boutique, and The Last Drop, the tavern Vander used to run.
She did meet some acquaintances, but she did not get many useful clues.
The reason was that even these acquaintances rarely came into contact with Silco.
Just like that, Vi and Caitlyn walked through a back lane with few people, thinking about where to go next.
Caitlyn quietly followed beside her, not urging her.
Vi understood the Undercity far better than she did. If even Vi could not find useful clues, then Caitlyn coming here would be pointless too.
At that moment, she sensed something and reached out to tug on Vi's clothes, her expression turning alert.
Vi lifted her head and quickly sensed that something was wrong too, becoming equally guarded.
The back lane was wrapped in pale white mist. But while the two of them had not been paying attention, many people had already appeared around them.
Gradually, they surrounded the two in the middle.
They seemed to be part of the same group. After they drew closer, it could be seen that every one of them wore a mask, dressed in a very mysterious way.
Vi did not know whether they were enemies or friends. She subconsciously stepped forward, shielding Caitlyn behind her, and said coldly, "Playing mysterious, huh? Who are you people?"
"The Firelights. Have you heard the name?"
Among the group, a person wearing a white mask slowly stepped out. He carried a hoverboard at his waist, and his clothes were painted with all kinds of strange patterns. His voice passed through the mask, cold and low.
"The Firelights?" Vi thought for a moment, not at all afraid. "Sounds like some third-rate gang. What kind of people only dare hide their faces behind masks?"
The masked man did not get angry either. He smiled faintly and said, "Looks like your talent for mocking groups hasn't gotten any worse. How many of us do you think you can take down, Vi?"
"You can say my name, so it looks like you know me." Vi thought through acquaintances who fit the masked man's traits, then smiled confidently. "Hard to say how many I can take down. Why don't you try me?"
As soon as her words fell, the group immediately took another step forward, watching them like tigers eyeing prey.
Caitlyn's hand was already on her gun, ready to draw at any moment.
"How about this? I'll exchange a couple of moves with you. If you're as tough as you say, I'll let you go."
The masked man raised his hand, signaling his subordinates to back off. As he spoke, he put down the hoverboard and curled his finger at Vi in provocation.
"Don't let me drop you in one move."
Vi stepped forward without hesitation and threw a punch directly, creating a rushing sound.
The masked man tilted his head and dodged the punch, then smoothly kicked out. Vi raised her hand to block, then countered with another punch.
He also raised a hand to stop it, his body swaying flexibly left and right. When he found the right moment, he threw a punch.
Vi also sidestepped and dodged, then returned the favor without mercy.
Caitlyn noticed one detail. The boxing styles of these two were somewhat similar, and their footwork was the same as well.
It was almost as if they had been taught by the same master.
In just a few seconds, they had each thrown several punches, and for a while, it seemed difficult to tell who had the upper hand.
"Looks like you've improved a bit. Then I'll have to get serious."
At this moment, the corner of Vi's mouth curved upward. Her movements suddenly sped up. She bent backward, almost leaving an afterimage.
Whoosh!
The wind from her fist swept up instantly. In a flash, her fist was already about to strike the masked man's face. But it also seemed to miss, brushing past his cheek.
Then came a horizontal side kick. The force was so powerful that the masked man, who took it head-on, was forced two steps back.
And in the next second, what he had to face was Vi's seamless follow-up uppercut.
Seeing this punch, it seemed there was already no room to dodge. However, in the next instant, Vi's fist only knocked the mask away.
Looking at the familiar face beneath the mask, she revealed a smile. "So it really is you, little man. You've gotten bold, haven't you? You even dare to block my way."
She rudely placed her hand on Little Man's head and rubbed it.
Ekko felt a few traces of nostalgia and a few traces of unfamiliarity, but more than that, with so many people watching, he felt somewhat embarrassed.
He stepped back, avoiding Vi's hand, and said coldly, "Don't act close to me. Are we even that familiar?"
"It's me, Vi!"
Vi took a step forward, opened her arms, and directly gave Ekko a huge hug. Ignoring his resistance, she said happily, "After all these years, I really missed you."
Perhaps those words crushed the last line of defense in Ekko's heart. He stopped resisting, and his eyes instantly grew wet.
All these years, he had never imagined that one day, he would actually be able to see Vi again.
Vi released the hug and smiled at Ekko. "Remember me now?"
Ekko looked at her face and spoke in a tone that seemed both reproachful and complaining. "They all said you were dead. I thought so too. During the years you were gone, a lot of things in Zaun changed, and I was the only one left. I went to a lot of places looking for you. Where have you been all these years?"
At this moment, he no longer looked like the imposing leader of the Firelights.
Instead, he was like a helpless, lonely child with many hardships to pour out.
All these years, reaching this point, it was hard to imagine how much he had endured alone.
Looking at him, Vi's eyes revealed both heartache and apology. She said dejectedly, "I'm sorry. I never thought of abandoning you all. But…"
"I believe you."
Ekko did not let her continue.
Because the Vi he knew would never abandon her companions.
And from just now, he could also tell that Vi had not changed over the years.
"We're making a big move tonight. Come with us first."
At this point, Ekko picked up the hoverboard from the ground. After activating it, he jumped straight onto it and said, "Ailan, Karna, bring them along."
As soon as his words fell, two strong, masked women stepped out from among the Firelights on hoverboards.
Caitlyn looked at their builds and was wondering, "How are you going to bring us?"
The next second, she was directly scooped up around the waist and carried over one shoulder. A feeling of weightlessness rushed through her body at once, and she almost cried out in surprise.
Looking at Vi, the situation was more or less the same.
Vi did not mind this at all.
Caitlyn, however, felt that something was wrong. Wasn't this way of carrying people way too strange?
At least the speed of the hoverboards was impressive. A hoverboard was a kind of skateboard that could fly through the air.
Incidentally, this genius design came from Ekko. Using a special Zaunite understanding of technology, he had developed the hoverboard.
Not only did it have a tracking function, its performance was also very stable. Its energy source was a kind of low-grade energy crystal. Compared to Piltover's Hextech crystals, it was far inferior, but it was enough for the Firelights to use.
This was also the reason why, so far, only the Firelights possessed hoverboard technology.
"Cool."
Feeling her body flying through the air, Vi could not help praising it.
Caitlyn also found the feeling rather novel. Although the position of being carried over someone's shoulder was not very good, this feeling was like flying across the sky.
Thinking carefully, she had also seen the Firelights at the docks that day.
But she had not noticed the hoverboards used by the Firelights.
She had not expected Zaun to have such an impressive invention too.
With only this brief understanding, Caitlyn discovered that this city seemed to have many places that were not quite the same as she had imagined.
With the hoverboards for travel, Ekko and the Firelights brought Vi and Caitlyn back to their secret base very quickly.
Their base was hidden extremely well. Without remembering the route, it would be impossible to find this place.
At this moment, even though it was night, the base was still brightly lit. Aside from the Firelights, Vi saw many Zaunites living peacefully here, removed from worldly conflict.
"After all these years, Zaun has become less and less welcoming to ordinary people."
Ekko jumped down from the hoverboard and put it away smoothly. As he led the way ahead, he said, "People with slightly weaker abilities or backgrounds suffer discrimination, unfair treatment, even abuse. In the end, they have no choice but to give up their right to survive in Zaun. Zaun is being occupied by more and more people blinded by profit."
"And here, most of us are the former kind. Nobody wants to leave the home we share, so from the bottom of our hearts, we want to change this environment in Zaun."
When Ekko said this, the light flickering in his eyes was very firm.
Behind him, Vi sighed with relief and emotion. "You really have grown up, little man."
"Stop calling me by my nickname. Call me Ekko now."
Ekko turned back and looked at Vi with dissatisfaction. After all, he was now the boss of this base.
Being called Little Man in front of so many people was really embarrassing, all right?
"Fine, I'll listen to you, little man." Vi smiled and looked around casually. "By the way, little man, did you put all of this together yourself?"
Ekko was silent.
Based on his understanding of Vi, sure enough, after all these years, this woman had not changed one bit.
Once she decided on something, she would not change it easily.
Trying to get her to stop calling him Little Man in the future was probably going to be a little difficult.
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