Silco stared at the shattered furnace wall—the storage section of the Shimmer factory.
Just like Jinx had done in topside, Vi had driven a vicious knife straight into the heart of the underworld.
"Topside hasn't been this arrogant in a long time."
Sevika walked up from behind him. They had both seen the state of things on the way in.
"Still, that sheriff in a coma is good for something."
Silco lowered his eyes to the liquid spilling out. Over the next few months, they were probably going to lose a huge chunk of business.
"Too bad Jinx didn't see it that way."
Sevika looked at Silco's back with open dissatisfaction.
Silco made the plans. She carried them out.
Just like years ago, when she shoved Silco away and let the explosion take her arm instead.
Silco's expression stayed calm as he turned his head slightly.
"We'll just buy another one later."
Silco didn't merely spoil Jinx. The whole Undercity knew he would always back his daughter.
No matter how dissatisfied his second-in-command was, no matter how much she complained, Silco would only order her to do her job.
"I just want to know one thing! Are you going to do anything or not?!"
The woman in the black feathered cloak shouted in fury, kneeling beside her son's corpse.
"Are you going to deal with the bastard who killed my son?"
"Let me guess. It's 'Jinx will handle it,' right?" The woman's eyes burned with rage. She had been sitting on resentment toward Jinx for a long time too. "You always say it like she can handle everything."
A strange male voice picked up where she left off.
"Yeah. So, who are you?" The woman with the chemtech nose and the two glowing green tubes connected to it turned around, only to see someone she hadn't expected.
"Who the hell is this?" asked the mohawked man, still flicking his lighter open and shut.
"Oh, that's a great question."
Cloudlike tattoos stood out against pale skin as the figure rushed toward him.
A pink fist smashed into the brass jaw he was so proud of, and Chem-Baron Finn went flying.
"We meet again." Silco turned around and smiled at Caleb.
"Topside knows you're holding the gemstones now." Caleb looked at the two of them and idly nudged a shard of broken glass with his foot.
"So what? Jinx already understands the technology. War could start at any moment."
Caleb let out a sigh, glanced at Jinx as she hopped up and down on Finn, and continued, "Actually, the reason I came here was to stop you from going to war."
"Oh? And why would that be?"
Jinx stopped and looked puzzled.
"Jayce is going to come negotiate with you soon. Hand over the Hextech gemstone, and you'll get equality."
Caleb didn't explain any further. Once they were actually sitting at the negotiating table, it would only be him and Silco.
"If equality can be won without sacrifice, that would be a good thing."
Silco's words carried a deeper meaning as he looked toward Finn lying on the floor, covered in shoe prints.
"We all feel terribly sorry for the loss of your son, Renni."
Silco turned his head as he said it, though there wasn't even a trace of sorrow in his voice.
"And you," he added, "the one with rebellion practically written across your face."
Jinx planted a foot on Finn's chin.
"So stupid!" she laughed, stomping on him again and again.
"But at least one thing is worth taking comfort in." There was even a hint of pity in Silco's gaze now. "He died for our cause, not over some petty personal grudge."
Renni looked up at Silco. The grief and fury in her eyes hadn't faded, but she no longer dared argue back.
Silco. His second-in-command, Sevika. The lunatic Jinx.
And now there was this mysterious "honored guest" from who-knew-where—the one who could help Silco copy gemstones.
With someone like that around, chem-barons like them mattered even less.
They hadn't invented Shimmer. Singed had.
All they had done was get the formula from Silco and work day and night producing it.
"Why didn't Saito Takeda come? What's he been up to lately?" Silco pulled out a delicate pair of scissors and asked the question as casually as if it meant nothing.
"The amorphous combat body he was working on got stolen by a pair of mechanics. He's been searching all over for it."
Sevika smoothly handed him a lighter and lit the tip of his cigar all the way around.
"And Yazde?"
"One of his thugs stepped on his toes and crushed them. He got sent to the padded ward at Osweld Asylum."
"And Alina's busy developing a new formula lately. You chem-barons really are a talented bunch."
Silco smiled.
It was a cold, eerie smile, like a demon grinding its teeth before a feast.
"Watch yourselves. Tensions flare easily in a place like this."
Silco slowly walked away, while Jinx was still admiring the traces of battle scattered through the room.
"You stay here and help Renni deal with the body."
Sevika remained in the factory. Caleb, meanwhile, stepped forward and followed after the completely unguarded Silco.
…
When Viktor finally came fully awake, the first thing he saw was a pair of broken glasses.
He endured the pounding in his head and forced himself to think, piecing together scattered fragments of memory.
He had wanted the Hexcore to reconstruct his body even further.
So he had carved runes all over himself and taken Shimmer.
The entire process had been agonizing. Through all of it, Viktor had only one thought in his mind: grab the Hexcore.
Sky had found him and tried to drag him away from the blue-glowing Hexcore.
And he had reached for it instead.
After the room was swallowed by a blinding blue light, Viktor got what he wanted. His body had become even more Hextech-altered.
But Sky—his assistant, who had stayed by his side for so long—had been reduced to a pile of ash on the floor, leaving behind only her clothes and her notes.
"Viktor, I know this paper may never get published."
"But when I look at you, working so tirelessly to build a better world…"
"I feel ashamed if I don't try harder too."
"Everybody should do their part, right?"
Viktor gathered up the papers from the floor. His tears blurred the ink until the handwriting bled.
Then he looked at the Hexcore beside him. Compared to its old, steady movements, this time it seemed almost to be breathing.
He collapsed to the floor and crawled his way to the edge of the table.
The Hexcore was no longer moving in a regular rhythm. The runic markings etched into it before had already vanished.
Viktor's eyes hardened.
He was going to destroy this thing.
Even if it meant his life couldn't be prolonged.
But after lifting the stool, looking at the Hexcore as it contracted and expanded, as if desperately resisting—
No matter how hard Viktor clenched his teeth, no matter how firm his resolve, he couldn't bring himself to strike.
The stool crashed to the floor.
In the end, Viktor turned and walked away.
"No… forget it…"
He was still muttering under his breath.
Behind him, the Hexcore began to glow once more.
That eerie radiance spread from the Hextech-altered parts of Viktor's body and finally reached his eyes.
He clutched at his leg and collapsed to the ground.
…
Ambessa was enjoying the wine in her glass while lecturing the handsome young man beside her.
"Wine from Noxus has a stronger body. The climate there makes the grapes tougher."
"And because of that, anything that survives there grows tough too."
Mel stormed in and smacked the glass from her hand.
Red wine streaked across the floor like splattered blood.
"Leave us," Ambessa said lightly.
The young man and the guards standing at a distance both withdrew.
"Stay away from Jayce." Mel's voice cracked slightly, unable to hide the anger in it.