"Governor! Governor! Governor!" The cheers rose in wave after wave.
When a windfall drops into someone's lap, people usually hesitate.
Could I really be this lucky? Is this some kind of scam?
Is there a trap coming right after this? Did they set their sights on something I have and want to use me?
But what if the windfalls just keep pouring down?
Then people only think about how to grab as much as they can.
It was a simple truth.
And it was exactly where Caleb's confidence came from.
…
"Because Vi played a tremendous role in helping Caitlyn during the Hextech Gemstone theft case," Caleb said, and he was far from finished.
"We are awarding her the Atlas Gauntlets from the first generation of Hextech equipment!"
At the sight of the massive gauntlets, the people below erupted all over again.
"So that's Hextech equipment? It looks cool as hell!"
"Then the one on the Governor's back must be Hextech gear too!"
"I want to have the Governor's babies!"
Only Vi seemed dazed as she stared at them.
Back when she first met Vander, he had worn a pair of cast-iron gauntlets and beaten Enforcers bloody with them.
Now the gauntlets that had somehow found their way back to her hands had become part of this grand moment of equality between Piltover and Zaun.
"That's incredible. Seriously incredible."
"Just like someone Vander raised, she's got the same air the Hound of the Underground had back then."
"The Hound of the Underground is still stuck guarding the Lanes. She's different. She actually caught the Governor's eye."
Seeing Vi frozen there, Caleb slid two gemstones into the Atlas Gauntlets. The moment they powered on, the sound alone drove the technology lovers in the crowd wild.
"You were meant to have these, but that doesn't mean you get to take them without saying a word."
There was meaning beneath his tone, of course. He was talking about the time she had confronted Jayce.
They were Jayce's invention to begin with, yet she had forcibly kept the gauntlets by wagering her own life.
"From this day on, Violet is one of the Enforcers. She will be in charge of maintaining order in Zaun!"
The moment those words came out, another wave of cheers exploded from below.
When Vi was young, she had already made a name for herself in the Lanes.
She was the kind who stuck to what she believed was right and refused to back down no matter what.
Vander had also been famous for protecting his own and standing up for the weak.
Compared to Piltover people who coldly called them trench trash, he had been better in every possible way.
"And that's not all. The scientist who developed the Hexgates together with Jayce Talis is also from Zaun!"
"I practically had to beg him before he agreed to join my team."
Jayce gave Viktor a light push.
"Go on, brother," he said quietly. "You've earned this."
Did Viktor truly dislike attention and applause?
Not entirely.
In Piltover, he had been an outsider, with no family, no friends, and no one willing to spare a second glance for someone born in the undercity.
But here in Zaun, his home, the eyes turned toward him were completely different.
They were filled with admiration and hope, with nothing else mixed in.
No one would say, "Too bad he's from the undercity."
Instead, they would lift their chins proudly and say to the people beside them,
"See that? Someone from the undercity can become a scientist who changes the world too."
Viktor slowly walked to the center of the stage, then raised an arm a little stiffly and gave the crowd a small wave.
"Hello, everyone."
He chose the plainest opening imaginable.
"As one of the creators of Hextech, I've always been a little embarrassed to step onto a stage."
His voice was not loud, so the crowd immediately fell silent.
"Professor Heimerdinger discovered me, but in Piltover, alone and with no one at my side, I always avoided other people's eyes."
"But today, standing in front of all of you, I don't feel that way anymore."
"Hextech was created to improve people's lives. I believe Zaun will have a brighter future as well."
He did not say much, but every word landed squarely in the hearts of Zaun's people.
For all these years, no matter how arrogant the topsiders were, the people of Zaun had to admit that Piltover's environment was better.
Even if that prosperity had been built at the expense of Zaun, it was still prosperity.
With the difference in strength between the two cities, especially after Vander's failed charge across the bridge, every Zaunite had carried some measure of inferiority inside.
But not today.
Because the one who had come was Caleb, Zaun's Governor.
He had not only brought the Council down into the undercity, he had also made Hextech something Zaun could share in.
Silco had been torn out by the roots, just like that, and the Chem-Barons' good days were over too.
There was so much good news, and it had all come so fast, that people hardly knew which part they should celebrate first.
"As the first group to serve under the Governor, the Firelights will receive pay equal to officials of the same rank in Piltover!"
Caleb kept speaking, while the people of Zaun were already so excited they could barely think straight.
"From today onward, The Last Drop will be open to everyone. Brothers and sisters, if you have suggestions for what you want us to do, put them in the suggestion box by the entrance."
"And all you criminals out there had better watch yourselves. Whether you run from Zaun to the topside or slip from Piltover down into the undercity, once our fists and guns come together, you're finished sooner or later."
There was probably one exception, Caleb quietly added in his heart.
"Now that I'm looking at him, the Governor suddenly seems way more handsome."
"I heard he used to be Vi's cellmate, and Caitlyn, you know, that Enforcer woman, got him out."
"The more you hear, the more legendary it sounds!"
"Is Zaun finally about to make it?"
"Goddess Janna, bless us!"
As the curtains on both sides slowly closed, the people of Zaun dispersed in excitement.
As they moved through the streets and alleys, the legend of the new Governor spread with them.
Some said he was thirteen feet tall. Some said he was a once-in-many-lifetimes genius.
Some were already starting to build shrines in his honor.
A whole crowd even gathered to discuss whether they should make a Hex Claw totem and worship their new Governor with it.
There were even stories claiming the Governor had come from distant Mount Targon, an Aspect descended to the world.
Of course, Caleb knew nothing about any of that.
He looked at Silco, whose wrists were bound in handcuffs, and quietly let out a sigh.
Everything had two sides.
In one sense, Vander had betrayed Zaun's desire by choosing compromise and swallowing humiliation.
Silco, as an extremist hawk, had sacrificed the people too.
But if there had been no Vander, the undercity's people would never have had the potential to unite.
And without Silco, the undercity would never have been able to stand on equal footing with Piltover.
So when it came to the two leaders before him, Caleb truly respected them both.
He also had no idea whether Vander would recover his memories after waking up. His own shallow grasp of chemtech was definitely nowhere near enough to deal with that.
When was the system reward finally going to arrive?
Probably after he had truly secured his position, or maybe only after he stepped down from the office of Governor.
Caleb patted Silco on the shoulder and said with some regret, "The newspaper will be delivered every day, along with your supplies."
"Thank you," Silco said.
There was much more white in his hair now, and his back had bent further. It was as if old age had caught up with him in the span of just a few days.
He was still as elegant as before, but the violence once hidden in his other eye was gone.
Even he had to admit that even if Zaun had won through war, it still would not have secured terms this favorable.
Handing power over to this kid really had been the right choice.
"I left you a few difficult problems," Silco said softly. "And take good care of Jinx for me."
Caleb understood.
Silco had left behind almost no useful information on how he had dealt with the Chem-Barons.
How Caleb would handle the shattered remnants of the gangs and wipe them out completely, that was the test Silco had left for him.
And it was also the means by which he could win prestige and the people's support in Zaun.
"Come on, boy and girls." Caleb grinned at Ekko and Vi behind him.
"It's time to do some real damage."