"Speak human!"
"Alright, alright, why are you so long-winded, little guy!"
....
Zaun dock, Old Cannery.
"Cough, cough..." Vander, lying on the ground, coughed weakly. His vision blurred by Hemorrhage, he scanned his surroundings, only to find all his old comrades lying in pools of blood.
Pat, pat, pat, pat...
Footsteps reached Vander's ears. Silco stepped through the blood and came before him, kicking him, causing him to roll over.
"You're old, Vander!"
Silco spoke mockingly, "You're no longer the Black Wolf who dared to fight and kill back then. You've become a dog!"
"Cough, cough..." Vander, spitting blood, spoke weakly, "Silco, you're bringing destruction to Zaun. Stop it now!"
"Stop?"
Silco squatted down, looking at Vander's blood-stained face. "I don't think so. I'm bringing new life to Zaun!"
"Those people up there never care whether we live or die. They always trample us underfoot. They are born nobler than us!"
"Why?"
Silco roared, "I'm asking you, why?"
"Why can they dominate us, and we can't resist them?"
As Silco roared hysterically, he wiped his face and regained his composure.
"But now nothing matters. I already have a weapon to fight Upcity, and I have a powerful voice!"
"You've already seen it, haven't you?"
"You don't understand Upcity's foundation, Silco, you don't!"
Vander, with bloody tears streaming from his eyes, coughed again. His lungs sounded like a leaky bellows, making him cough incessantly.
"Then let's all be destroyed together!"
Silco stood up and motioned to Sevika, "Anyway, after destruction, everything will be reborn!"
"That goes for you, and it goes for me!"
"Give him to Singed. Didn't he want a test subject for a long time?" Silco chuckled. The mutated Sevika snorted and staggered towards Vander, lifting him up.
"Vander!!!"
A loud cry caught Silco's attention. He looked over to see a little girl with pink hair and blue eyes, with a sky-blue bird perched on her shoulder, and sweat beading on her forehead.
"Vander, we've come to save you!"
"No, Vi, go!"
Vander saw his children and squeezed out a few words from his throat. Silco, seeing this, chuckled, "No wonder you became soft. So that's it!"
Silco pointed at the four of them, Vi and the others, then turned and walked towards the laboratory with Sevika, "Deal with them!"
The rest of the people showed cruel smiles and walked towards Vi and Powder and the other two.
"Ah!!"
Looking at the Shimmer mutant approaching her, Vi clenched her fist, roared, and charged. Powder, seeing this, quickly shouted, "Vi, no!!"
Facing the mutant amplified and mutated by Shimmer, Vi was like a duckweed in the wind. Her brave charge was shattered by the mutant's slap.
Bang!
Vi flew out like a kite with a broken string. After hitting the wall heavily, she slowly slid down the wall.
"Pfft!"
Vi, spitting out a mouthful of blood, looked pained. Mylo and Claggor also picked up weapons from the ground and rushed towards the mutant, but it was all in vain.
Under the amplification of Shimmer, these people had temporarily departed from the realm of humans. The Shimmer surging in their veins was their power source, giving them strength that ordinary people could not match.
"Mylo, Claggor!!"
Vi had just looked up when she saw Mylo and Claggor spinning and flying out, bouncing a few times like a ball on the ground before hitting the wall heavily.
The slender Claggor's chest caved in, and he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.
"Mylo!!!"
Vi struggled to stand up, but found her body wouldn't obey, so she could only watch helplessly as Mylo vomited blood and Claggor's fate remained unknown.
"They all look up to you as their leader!"
Vander's voice echoed in Vi's mind.
"If people look up to you as their leader, you can't just think about yourself!"
"You tell them to run, and they run; you tell them to fight, and they fight!"
"But you also have to be responsible for them!"
"Understand? Responsible!"
"I have to be responsible for them!" Vi struggled to her feet, as the mutant slowly walked towards Powder, who had her arms crossed over her chest.
Powder frantically pulled out a bomb she had made from her fanny pack, "Don't come any closer!"
"I have a bomb here...."
Powder twisted the switch and threw the bomb.
The mutants watched the bomb Powder threw, and a few of them looked at each other.
The bomb Powder spoke of ultimately released a strange gas, and then there was no more movement.
"Heh!"
The leading mutant sneered, twisting his shoulders as he walked towards Powder, his massive body casting a Shadow that seemed to Consume her!
"The bomb...."
Vi shivered, remembering what Duke had told her.
"If this thing is subjected to a strong shock, it will blow one-third of Zaun sky-high!"
"You guys are really bold!"
"Oh, right, those blue glass spheres!"
Vi reached for the fanny pack behind her.
The mutant arrived in front of Powder, clenching his hand into a fist and raising it high, a cruel look in his eyes, as if eager to smash the little girl in front of him into pulp.
"Stop!!!"
Vi's loud shout made the mutant turn around.
He turned his head to see Vi holding two unknown, glowing blue Hextech Gems in her hand.
Vi also picked up a hammer from the ground.
"What I have in my hand can blow half of Zaun sky-high.
If you dare touch her, we'll all die together!"
The blood flowing from the wound on Vi's forehead made her expression look exceptionally ferocious.
The other mutants listened to Vi's threat and all burst into disdainful, unrestrained laughter.
"Ah ha ha ha ha..."
"You bastards!"
Vi placed the Hextech Gem on the ground and raised the hammer high with her other hand, "Powder, run!"
"No, you can't do that, Vi, you can't!"
"Duke said that thing is very dangerous!"
"I also said I would protect you!" Vi's tone was resolute, and her eyes showed a plea: "Please leave here, okay?"
"You're all I have left!"
"Please, just go, okay?"
Looking into Vi's eyes, Powder trembled all over. She hated her weakness and fragility at this moment. Powder clenched her fists, her nails digging into her flesh, tears streamed from her eyes, and she turned and ran.
"Yes, just like that, don't look back!"
Vi gritted her teeth, and the raised hammer came down.
The Hextech Gem, glowing with blue light, lay quietly on the ground, as the brass hammer rapidly descended.
Whoosh!
A strong gust of wind surged into the factory. Powder, who had just run out, was blown back by the wind. The mutants felt the wind blind their eyes and quickly raised their hands to cover their faces.
Crack!
Vi felt her descending hammer caught by a strong hand and stared blankly at the black-haired young man in front of her.
Duke, crouching in front of Vi, took the hammer from her hand, stood up, and lightly tapped Vi's small head.
"Kids shouldn't play with firecrackers, it's very dangerous!"