"No thanks. I'm really not the type who likes being in the spotlight."
Caleb was genuinely wary of that. He had no intention of staying here for half a year.
The cheerful Jayce still had no idea he'd almost ended up calling Caleb, who was a few years younger than him, his brother-in-law.
"All right, all right. I know you only like taking the easy wins." Vi shrugged and got ready to leave.
Zaun's renovation and reconstruction were nearly the same thing at this point. Caleb, as Governor, could slack off now and then, but labor like her definitely didn't come easy.
Vi couldn't help muttering to herself about it. She and Caleb had gotten out of prison together.
And now, Caleb got along pretty well with Ekko, Powder listened to him and didn't cause trouble, the Kirammans looked on him favorably, and even Silco, the man she hated, had been thrown behind bars.
The more Vi thought about it, the more annoyed she felt. By that measure, she herself hadn't really done much of anything.
The only time she'd destroyed one of Silco's factories, she'd needed these Hextech gauntlets on her hands to do it.
It was a little frustrating.
Then again, thinking it over, she really wasn't cut out to be the one in charge.
A lot of the things she had done before hadn't been thought through carefully enough, which was why she'd never been able to take over Vander's place in the Lanes.
Would Vi grow? Of course she would.
She was reckless, but she wasn't stupid.
When the time came, this "Piltover Enforcer" with roots in Zaun would prove extremely useful.
After all, boxing wasn't exactly something just anyone could pick up overnight, and Vi had been learning from Vander since she was young.
Then she'd spent years fighting her way through prison, smashing walls whenever the urge struck.
On top of that, her background was clean enough, and her heart wasn't twisted.
So there was absolutely no problem letting her serve as a symbol that could put Zaun's people at ease.
The Lanes had produced an Enforcer too, one who came out of The Last Drop.
From now on, they wouldn't have to live by topsiders' moods anymore, even if there were some things they couldn't do now.
That was exactly what Caleb wanted.
After all, if Ekko represented progress, and Heimerdinger represented authority,
then Vi represented justice.
A justice that truly belonged to Zaun.
People from the Undercity no longer had to watch topsiders' faces for approval, and the Governor himself had personally dealt with two massive threats, Mundo and Urgot.
That mattered far more than renovation projects and pollution control measures.
The latter could be handled gradually, but the idea that Vi and Caleb represented, bringing real benefits to Zaun, had already sunk deep into people's hearts.
"I'm heading out for a walk."
Caleb said his goodbyes to Jayce and Viktor as well.
"I'll be going down to the Undercity to help tomorrow." Viktor wore a satisfied smile.
Now he had many tomorrows ahead of him, and many things he could do.
"System, equality still hasn't been achieved yet?"
As he strolled through Piltover's quiet streets, Caleb couldn't help asking.
By all logic, once Viktor returned to Zaun, equality between the two cities would be almost fully realized.
Wiping out the Chem-Barons in the mines would only be a matter of time.
Piltover would have no choice but to stand on equal footing with Zaun.
And not just because of history, either. With the strength Zaun now possessed, Piltover could no longer bully it at will.
Ekko, Heimerdinger, Vi, and even Viktor.
If Piltover started a fight now, the price would be far greater than simply helping Zaun.
And shrewd Piltovans didn't make losing deals.
Besides, with Caleb holding the line now, four of the seven councilors were firmly on his side.
Everything Piltover had taken from Zaun over the years, it was time to pay it back with interest.
So by all rights, it should have counted.
[Current mission progress: 95%]
The system only gave him that cold notification, and Caleb had no choice but to accept it.
He was going to have to endure the agony of the last stretch of the loading bar.
"Do you have a moment, Mr. Caleb?"
A slightly seductive voice sounded by Caleb's ear.
"What is it?" Caleb turned his head, and sure enough, it was Camille, her glowing eyes shining in the dark.
"We found that masked man. I'm planning to take the Enforcers and corner him."
"Want to come?"
Seeing the smile on the Steel Shadow's face, Caleb understood immediately, this was obviously a trap.
But he still had no idea what that last five percent was missing, so he could only nod.
"That's wonderful." Camille's face lit up with a happy smile, but Caleb didn't even need to look to know it was fake.
"Is he violent?"
"No. More accurately, he uses human lives to create artistic effects."
"That kind of art comes at a pretty steep price."
"Doesn't it? These past couple of days, Piltover's been in a panic. It's nothing like Zaun."
The Enforcers behind them only dared to follow in silence, walking lightly and gripping their rifles tight.
That madman's so-called art was dazzling enough on a visual level already, and with human lives used to create it,
it only became even more mysterious.
Rumor had it the Undercity had produced two monsters, one giant purple brute that could regenerate its body,
and another in the Dredge, a monster pieced together with all kinds of chemtech machinery until its entire body became a form of Glorious Evolution.
Without exception, both had been dealt with by Caleb.
So just looking at him made the Enforcers shiver.
They'd also heard that a few days ago in Piltover, an executioner who could ignore even the Noxian guard had had one arm and both legs cut off by Caleb before fleeing into the Undercity in a panic.
As for the five Chem-Barons who had once served under Silco, not a single one had survived.
The Enforcers had heard stories about how gruesome their ends had been.
The remaining Chem-Barons, who had originally wanted to gradually step out into the streets and expand their influence further, had all scurried back into the mines.
And now, seeing Caleb chatting so casually with the Ferros family spy known as the Gray Lady, the Enforcers became even more convinced that as long as this man was around, Zaun would never spiral out of control.
And Piltover's Enforcers would never again be able to throw their weight around.
"Recently, there was a girl who developed a rare lung disease. Her father was the technician who made the mechanical lungs."
"Then her father developed heart disease, and she donated her own healthy and beautiful heart to him."
Camille spoke as casually as if she were chatting about everyday life while she walked beside Caleb.
"And what happened to her after that?"
Caleb was genuinely curious. The girl had donated her heart, so then what?
"She ended up doing work in the shadows, same as me."
Camille let out a sigh, as if remembering something from long ago.
"She had conflicts with her father too, and didn't want to stay at home anymore."
"What?" Caleb stared at her in disbelief.
A father who could design mechanical lungs for his daughter, and a daughter who could donate her heart to her father.
And those two still had issues with each other? What kind of conflict could that even be?
"The father was afraid she'd run outside looking like that and get hurt, so he wound her up."
"But the daughter longed for freedom, so she ran away."
There was a distant look in Camille's eyes too, as though she were recalling a faraway age.
"Hold it." When Caleb heard the part about being wound up, something clicked in his mind.
"Orianna?" He thought of that champion, Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork. Come to think of it, that really did sound very Piltover.
"You know that child?" Camille looked a little surprised. The rest of Orianna's body had been modified by her own hand at home, and Caleb still knew who she was.
"Not exactly that well."
Caleb laughed it off and muddled through the moment.
While they talked, the two of them had already arrived at their destination, the entrance to a theater.
Elegant piano music drifted out from inside, note after note blending into beautiful chords.
"Well, I'll give him that, it's definitely artistic." Caleb frowned as he looked at the sturdy doors.
He didn't even need to think about it to know the place inside would be a death trap.
"Open it."
Boom!
At Camille's command, one of the Enforcers slammed the doors open!
Then they poured inside one after another.
// I hope you enjoyed this massive release :) , thanks for the Power Stones, reviews, comments, etc.
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