"This place didn't become what it is because of me alone. Everyone here played a part."
Ekko walked forward slowly, his eyes on their "home."
Here, everyone had true freedom. No one had to suspect one another or fight one another. You put in your share, you got your share.
"At first, it was just a few like-minded people gathering together. Little by little, it turned into this."
"You've really done something amazing," Vi said sincerely. She could also see the harmony inside this base. Creating a "home" like this in a place like Zaun could not have been easy.
"Let's leave that for later. We'll have plenty of time to talk."
Ekko led the two of them to the entrance of a factory building. The doors stood open, and inside, around twenty or thirty Firelights were making preparations of some kind.
"We started getting ready this afternoon. For tonight's operation, I figured you'd definitely be interested."
Vi asked in confusion, "What operation?"
She and Caitlyn looked ahead. The Firelights were putting on gear and preparing weapons.
Ekko turned his head and looked at Vi. "I'm guessing you still haven't forgotten Silco."
Vi paused, then nodded. "Of course not. I came back this time to settle the score with him."
"He was already taken away this afternoon."
Ekko replaced the battery in his hoverboard while speaking calmly.
Vi froze again. "Taken away?"
"That's right. We don't know what faction they're from." Ekko kept working with his hands and continued, "But from what we've seen, they've been operating in the shadows the whole time, so they're obviously not good people. They're probably trying to swallow up Silco's forces. But that works out for us. We can take them all down in one sweep."
Vi and Caitlyn exchanged a glance. Neither of them had expected that Silco, whom they had searched for all day, had been kidnapped.
"Is everyone ready?"
Ekko looked up at the Firelights.
"No problem."
"Just about."
"Ready."
One Firelight after another answered.
Ekko turned back to Vi and said, "We're moving out in five minutes. You coming?"
The moment she heard that, Vi answered without hesitation, "Of course."
Some unknown part of Zaun.
In an empty room, Silco hung his head, tied tightly to a chair. His face was swollen and bruised, covered in streaks of blood. Drop after drop of crimson blood fell from his chin.
The teeth in his mouth had been pulled out one by one by force. Then came the nails on his fingers and toes, along with shocks, beatings with clubs, lashes from whips, and all manner of physical torture.
"This bastard really knows how to keep his mouth shut. Even after all this, he still hasn't made a sound."
Darms was breathing slightly hard, his expression ugly as he looked at the dazed Silco in front of him. He turned his head and said, "Carroll, he looks like he's about to die. Do we keep going?"
Carroll stepped forward. In his hand was a syringe filled with purple liquid. "Silco, there really is a reason you became the lord of the undercity. I admire your willpower. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have lasted this long."
"But we have plenty of time. We can take our time playing with you."
With a faint smile on his face, he slowly injected all the purple liquid into Silco's body.
It was Shimmer, from Silco's own business.
Silco had been on his last breath, his mind muddled, but not long after the Shimmer was injected, his condition began to improve.
Carroll became even more certain. If they could not get the formula for this stuff, then killing Silco here would be meaningless.
"Treat his wounds. He can't die, at least not yet."
After giving that order, Carroll turned and left coldly.
Soon, two subordinates came forward and began treating Silco.
Darms sat down not far away and watched.
Naturally, they had not been torturing Silco every second of the afternoon. Considering his physical condition, they had taken several breaks in between.
Even so, Silco had endured no small amount of torment.
Yet he had held out until now without saying a single word.
At the same time, Luke, Lux, and the others took the lift and once again arrived at the Promenade in the undercity.
This was the uppermost level of Zaun, close to the upper city, and could be considered the border between Zaun and Piltover.
Right now, it was rather lively.
Many young people from Piltover came to Zaun's bars at night in search of so-called thrills.
To avoid drawing too much attention, everyone had gone through a round of disguises.
They now stood on the street of the Promenade.
Lux looked left and right, then said, "Now that we're here, the problem is, where are we supposed to look?"
The girls beside her also stood there and looked at one another.
Clearly, they had all realized the same problem. Among everyone present, not one of them understood the undercity.
They had reached the place, but they had no idea which way to go.
So, one pair of eyes after another looked toward Luke in perfect tacit understanding.
Luke, suddenly the target of everyone's hopeful attention, gave a dry laugh.
Now you remember me?
Fortunately, he had made preparations in advance. At the cost of one all-you-can-eat meal, he had exchanged for intelligence from a certain gluttonous goddess.
"All right, then. Allow me to make a humble calculation."
Luke put on an enigmatic expression, closed his eyes, raised his hand, and began counting on his fingers.
The girls around him opened their eyes wide, each of them waiting expectantly for his result.
Up in the sky, the goddess of spirits saw this and curled her lip in disdain.
Lux watched Luke's dramatic act, already knowing that this guy had definitely figured something out.
Still, she did not rush him and waited patiently beside him.
A few seconds later, Luke opened his eyes. "According to my calculations, everything points to Zaun's lowest level. Let's move."
Without further explanation, he started leading the way. The group behind him hurried after him.
Those who knew Luke well only needed to follow.
Meanwhile, Seraphine and Orianna looked somewhat bewildered.
He just counted on his fingers, and that was enough to figure it out?
Was he really that amazing?
In truth, Luke did know a bit about divination and things of that sort, but at most, he could usually read faces and observe celestial signs.
Calculating everything with a quick motion of his fingers was still beyond him.
But there was no helping it. He had someone upstairs.
Zaun's lowest level was already beneath the cliff.
It was said that this place had formed when the ancestors of Oshra Va'Zaun overmined the area, causing the mountain to collapse and cave in.
The terrain here was complicated. The space was vast and connected to the cliff.
Although the place was large, due to the environment and other reasons, it was already considered one of the more remote parts of Zaun. Very few people lived here.
At this moment, the Firelights, along with Vi and Caitlyn, had quietly arrived here.
They were currently lying low and observing.
"The entrance to their base is at the mouth of a cave. This group dug out an underground space. They're inside right now," Ekko whispered to Vi.
Vi nodded in understanding.
"There are quite a few enemy lookouts arranged here. Through terrain calculations, we've already figured out where the entrance is."
Ekko looked ahead and said in a low voice, "Next, we charge in all at once. It would be best not to give them time to react. We need to move fast."
He turned and glanced at everyone behind him. The Firelights each nodded.
Ekko took out a pocket watch and checked the time. "We move after a count of five."
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One!"
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!
As the countdown ended, hoverboards started up one after another. Green light flashed, drawing streaks through the air.
The group moved quickly, rushing toward the entrance with lightning speed.
In the blink of an eye, battle was about to break out.
Ekko's guess had been right. Quite a few warning lookouts had been placed here, and they immediately spotted the unknown Firelights approaching.
But clearly, they had not expected the Firelights to be this fast.
One Firelight after another stepped onto a hoverboard. Several streaks of green light cut through the air, attacks fell, and the lookouts were quickly dealt with.
There were only so many hoverboards, so not everyone had one. The remaining members charged forward on foot.
Vi and Caitlyn sprinted along the road and saw several enemies rushing out to support the entrance.
Ekko stood on his hoverboard, his weapon a short club. With the mobility of the hoverboard, he wove through the air above the enemies, taking down one after another with clean, efficient movements.
In the blink of an eye, Vi had already charged close. Without a word, she threw a punch at one enemy and sent him flying with a single blow.
Then she grabbed another man by the collar and swung him hard around her, knocking several others down.
Bang!
A gunshot suddenly rang out, and the gun in one enemy's hand was shot straight out of his grip.
He froze where he stood.
Vi turned her head and glanced at Caitlyn, who was not far behind her with her rifle raised and aimed, then gave her a knowing smile.
Caitlyn smiled faintly as well.
Vi turned back and let out a breath.
Now she could charge forward without holding back.
So she sped up, rushed up to that man, and threw another punch. The force of her fist howled past and knocked him unconscious on the spot.
Her punches were fast and sharp. Any enemy who faced her generally could not last three punches under her hands.
The battle had only just begun, but Vi had already taken down quite a few people.
Ekko's performance was also quite impressive. In his hands, the hoverboard was almost an art form, leaving many enemies spinning in circles.
His hoverboard was also a powerful weapon, carrying considerable impact. A single strike could almost send someone flying.
Their performance greatly boosted the Firelights' morale and intimidated quite a few enemies.
However, such a direct and open intrusion soon triggered the full alarm of this secret base.
On the third underground level.
After receiving the news, Darms found Carroll with a dark expression. "A group of people came from outside. Looks like they're probably the Firelights."
Hearing this, Carroll's eyes flickered slightly. "Those people really aren't simple. Clearly, they noticed us early on. Choosing today to make a move is quite the perfect timing. But coming to our door without even saying hello is rather impolite. Go tell them we aren't receiving guests today."
As he spoke, he glanced at the subordinate beside him.
"Yes."
The subordinate answered and immediately withdrew.
Very quickly, Carroll's men reacted and began their counterattack.
He had stationed a large number of people in this base precisely to handle this kind of situation.
Vi gradually felt the number of enemies around them increasing, but she showed no fear. Instead, the fighting spirit in her eyes only surged higher.
Those people held all kinds of weapons, while she had only her fists.
The next second, she leapt forward and charged fearlessly toward the crowd.
All around her, the sounds of clashing rang out continuously, mixed with a few gunshots.
Firearms were still not common goods in Zaun. The price of a single gun was absurdly high, and this sort of weapon remained in the hands of only a few people.
The conventional way to fight was still close-quarters combat.
Besides, for some people, guns were nothing to fear.
Vi constantly used her footwork to maneuver around the enemies, preventing herself from being trapped in a many-against-one situation. After all, two fists were no match for four hands, and she had far more than two enemies.
Once surrounded, attacks would come from every direction, and even Vi would not be able to handle that.
So she moved quickly through the enemy ranks. Whenever she found an opening, she threw a punch. Her fists were ruthless and accurate, usually needing only one strike to take someone down.
Caitlyn fought in support. Her eyes seemed capable of observing everyone in the battle, flashing sharply at that moment.
Whenever anyone fell into a bad position, her bullet would always shoot out with precision and turn the tide.
But because of this, she was also the first to realize that the situation was becoming bad.
She had counted earlier. The Firelights only had sixty members who could fight, while the enemy's numbers were several times that.
Although the Firelights had an equipment advantage, it was obvious they would not be able to hold out for too long.
They still did not know how large this place was, but it definitely was not small. Caitlyn estimated it could hold at least a thousand people.
Even if the enemy did not number in the four digits, there had to be at least over six hundred of them.
For an underground gang so nameless that it could only hide itself away, having more than six hundred combatants was indeed far beyond their expectations.
Vi was already breathing a little hard. She looked at the enemies closing in, shook out her fists, and prepared to keep fighting.
Caitlyn raised her rifle, quickly reloaded, and fired. Her precise marksmanship rapidly took one enemy after another out of the fight.
Taking advantage of a brief opening, she shouted, "This is getting bad!"
Ekko launched his hoverboard out. After it knocked down three people, the board flew back beneath his feet, flickering with a dim green glow.
He looked left and right, his brow tightly furrowed, and realized the same thing.
Before this, they had indeed known there was another group hiding in the shadows, but he had underestimated their preparations.
Someone had prepared this much combat strength without him noticing?
Had he been careless, or had these people come here with truly hostile intentions?
Ever since he founded the Firelights, he had been secretly observing and monitoring all of Zaun's factions. It could be said that every big and small matter in Zaun was under his eyes.
The reason he dared bring the team here this time was because he had determined that the faction that kidnapped Silco was not that strong.
But the current situation told him that his judgment had been wrong this time.
There was no time to think about that now. Ekko decisively gave the order. "Find an opening and retreat! Vi, take them and go first. We'll cover the rear!"
He was naturally referring to those without hoverboards leaving first.
The members with hoverboards could pull out at any time.
Vi did not hesitate. She had never been the type to waver, and she also knew that they had no choice but to retreat now.
So she immediately began covering the retreat of the Firelights who did not have hoverboards.
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