"Caleb!" The moment Caitlyn spotted the figure beneath the statue, she hurried over.
After she and Vi woke up, they had stayed with the Firelights the whole time, still trying to figure out how any of this was supposed to end.
Then one of the members who had been captured earlier ran back to the hideout and brought them the message.
That was when Caitlyn had Vi lead the way here.
"You scared me to death!" Once she saw the face beneath the hood, Caitlyn finally let herself relax.
"To get this? A little risk was worth it."
Caleb opened his hand, and the Hextech gemstone glowed faintly in his palm.
"To be honest, when I jumped, I really thought I was dead." Caleb gave a self-mocking little smile.
"We should head back to the Firelights' hideout first."
"Okay." Caitlyn nodded toward Vi in the shadows, and the three of them left the statue together.
"How did you know we were fine?" Vi asked, confused. "What if the Firelights were brutal too? You should've traded that guy for the two of us."
"The Firelights aren't brutal. In fact, they were the ones who hit the cargo ship near the Hexgates."
"Remember the guy whose jaw you shattered?" Caleb glanced at Vi and continued. "Even he was hurt by his own people—by Jinx, in other words. And the casualties among the gang that got attacked were basically zero."
As Caleb spoke, both Caitlyn and Vi stared at him with wide eyes and slightly parted lips.
"How do you know all that?" Vi asked, completely unable to make sense of it.
"And all of it's right," Caitlyn added, closing her notebook. She had personally investigated the cargo ship scene before, and what Caleb said matched almost perfectly.
"I have a friend." Caleb smiled slyly. "He's just not the kind of person who can show his face in public."
The three of them reached a secluded corner. Vi strained as she dragged aside the cover blocking a pipe entrance, revealing a pitch-black tunnel.
After a short trek, the space suddenly opened up.
A massive tree came into view, with countless glowing insects drifting between its leaves.
"They're called firelights." Vi sounded a little awed. "I can't believe so many of them survived down here."
"Yeah, it's not easy." Caleb tipped his head back to admire them. "It's even bigger than I imagined."
Not far away, a group of children were trying to ride hoverboards.
Compared to the eerie, graceful arcs the Firelights made when they attacked, these kids could barely stay upright for more than a few seconds.
They hit the ground in a puff of dust, then burst out laughing.
Compared to the dark world outside, this place felt like paradise.
"Vi told me you can be trusted." A man with white hair in dreadlocks walked over from the distance. "But I still think something's off."
"Catch, Ekko." Caleb didn't waste time explaining. He simply tossed the Hextech gemstone over.
"What is this?" Ekko fumbled to catch it, then lifted it up and studied it closely.
"What are you doing?" Caitlyn asked angrily from the side. "I'm taking that back with me!"
She moved to snatch the gemstone away, and Ekko instantly responded by grabbing his weapon—a length of pipe.
"Whoa, both of you, calm down. We're all on the same side." Vi stepped between them and shoved them apart.
"Your Enforcers treat us like animals. They kill us whenever they feel like it, all because they're taking Silco's dirty money!" Ekko shot back, his words sharp with anger.
"That's impossible!" In Caitlyn's eyes, her fellow officers might have liked excluding her because she was a noblewoman, but when things got dangerous, they still stepped forward for real.
Like her former captain. He had mocked her and Jayce, but he had also died at the scene where the Hextech gemstone was stolen.
"Listen to me." Caleb's voice turned cold, and both of them stopped fighting and looked at him.
"If we want to leave Zaun and return to Piltover, we need the Firelights' help." There was a trace of chill indifference in his eyes. "I don't want them being used without even understanding why."
"So what is it?" Ekko asked, raising the gemstone in his hand.
"A Hextech gemstone. A valuable energy source." Caleb stepped forward to explain. "It has the same efficiency as the hextech cores used in the famous Hexgates."
"But it's much more stable," Caleb continued.
"With the right knowledge, it can be used to make... any Hextech device." He paused, but still gave them the truth.
Do not underestimate the word any.
Weapons, infrastructure, anything else—this small sphere could handle all of it.
And it had an almost frightening level of stability.
"We can use it to take down Silco," Ekko said without hesitation.
"But that won't solve everything," Caitlyn countered. "The Enforcers have stepped things up because of the Hextech gemstone. All this will do is widen the rift between the two cities even more."
"Easy for you to say! You're not the one watching your people die!"
"No." Caitlyn lowered her head. "I have watched it happen."
"Caitlyn, what are you planning to do after you take it back?" Caleb asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"I have a friend on the Council. He asked me to bring the gemstone back to him."
"Zaun and Piltover can't keep fighting like this. Right now is the best chance we have to close the gap between them."
"He'll listen to me. And if that happens, you won't have to keep living in hiding." Caitlyn's voice was full of sincerity.
Ekko fell silent in thought.
Her proposal did make sense.
The Firelights were boxed in on all sides right now. Maybe this really was the only way to ease the pressure.
He let out a long sigh, then looked Caitlyn straight in the eye.
"I have one condition."
"I hand it to him myself."
...
Viktor stood on the docks. At the moment, there was no one else there.
Not long ago, he had taken Shimmer and merged his blood into the rune-filled Hexcore.
The process had been agonizing, but the result was worth it.
His leg had been replaced by a strange substance pulsing with runes, and he could control it with ease.
He let out a long breath, tossed his cane aside, and cautiously took a step forward.
The Hextech foot struck the ground with a low hum.
From limping to walking like an ordinary man, it took him only a few steps.
He tried to speed up, but because he hadn't run in so long, he couldn't quite find his balance at first, stumbling forward.
After a few quick steps, he began to run, just like the people he had once envied.
Faster and faster he went, leaving the fishing boats in the distance behind him.
On that lonely stretch of street, he threw back his head and shouted into the sky.
He had evolved.
He had been reborn.
...
"Silco's busy right now." Sevika lit herself a cigarette and looked at the visitor in front of her.
At the Chem-Barons' meeting a few days ago, this man—Finn—had all but written treason across his face.
After Silco had put him in his place, she had assumed he'd keep his head down for a while.
Instead, he had the nerve to show up here.
"Doesn't matter. I'm not here for him anyway." He shifted the brass jaw on his face and toyed with the lighter in his hand.
"Every time I ask what Silco's been up to, I hear your name. From the Undercity docks to the Hexgates, you've been busy."
"Say what you came to say." Sevika kept the cigarette between her lips as she reattached her repaired chemtech arm.
"You're good at what you do, aren't you? Too bad none of it is really yours. It belongs to Silco..." He paused deliberately, because the next part was what mattered. "And to Jinx."
"That's it? You think trying to bait me is going to hurt my pride?" Sevika flexed her mechanical fingers with ease, and a blade snapped out between the middle and ring fingers of her left hand.
"You really are something, Finn. Every time I think you can't get any dumber, you somehow find a new low."
"The Undercity's in this bad a state, and he still hasn't bothered making back the money he lost." Finn didn't get angry. He simply lit the drink in front of him on fire, then swallowed it in one go.
"Every single time Jinx screws something up, you're the one cleaning up the mess. You practically look like an outsider."
"Think it over." He had already stood up. Reaching Sevika's side, he placed the lit lighter in front of her.
"There are plenty of people more capable than he is, aren't there?"
Sevika moved her lips, using the flame to relight her cigarette.
By then, he had already tucked away the lighter and turned to leave.
"Think it over carefully."