Caleb sat calmly in the center of the council chamber.
Around him stood Singed, shaking a vial of medicine, and Jinx, carrying her guns and explosives.
Zeri wore a jacket, electricity crackling between her fingers.
Ekko casually flicked the clock face hanging from him.
Warwick was cleaning the leftover blood from his claws.
And Viktor had changed into a full suit of armor, only missing the part where he brought Mecha Kha'Zix along with him.
"We were still killing enemies on the front line. After fighting the Shadow Isles, we rushed to help our allies against the Void."
Even through Viktor's mechanical voice, waves of anger could be heard.
Viktor had brought the work of his heart to the front line, almost monitoring every single robot's condition himself.
Of course, his first and best creation had still remained in Zaun.
Every time Viktor lost a robot, he felt pain.
His works pursued sentience, and throughout this entire period, almost every robot that had developed sentience, aside from Mecha Kha'Zix and Blitzcrank, had been personally sent by him to the battlefield.
Not one survived.
But it was at this exact moment that Piltover's powerful elite were still worried that Caleb's power was too great, and they had taken away those two Mecha suits.
They did not even know that the concept of computers had been proposed by Caleb.
How ironic. Caleb had saved the World's Throat again and again from world-ending disasters, then built good relations with an entire southern continent.
Yet he had still been plotted against during a brief rest between fighting the Black Mist and the Void.
When other people were ruthless, at least they waited until the birds were gone before hiding the bow.
But on Caleb's side, the problem had not even been solved yet, and they had decided to solve Caleb first.
To Caleb's left and right sat Kai'Sa, now an Ascended, and Janna, a demigod.
Only Ryze and Yuumi sat quietly in the gallery, watching everything unfold.
Camille climbed over the wall and entered. When she looked at Caleb's face, she seemed somewhat surprised, though a trace of apology also showed through.
"The Ferros family contributed quite a lot in this matter..."
Caleb's voice was cold.
With these two by his side, combined with his own combat strength, it would be somewhat difficult to shatter that griffon colossus.
But fighting it on one side while slaughtering the entire city of Piltover on the other would probably not be a problem.
Because of that, the Ferros family had sent Camille over immediately to appease Caleb.
"Your killing intent toward Councilor Morey last time offended everyone."
Caleb's face was dark as he looked at Camille's refined face, which was equally cold as frost.
"I am part of the Ferros family as well, and I also have mechanical organs replacing parts of my body."
"After his old friend died, Heimerdinger devoted his entire mind and body to scientific research."
"Mel's position was never legitimate to begin with. As for her money, you know where it came from. It was all gained through 'cooperation' with nobles from different regions."
"As for Salo, there is even less to say. You scared that man out of his wits back then."
"As for the remaining two, one is always hesitant, and the other only sees profit."
Caleb's originally gloomy face suddenly cleared, and he burst into laughter instead.
"I get it..."
Caleb laughed until faint tears gathered in his eyes.
"Since you hold the mass-production technology for Hextech crystals in your hands, you were certain that whether I took power or those useless people continued controlling Piltover, you would benefit either way, right?"
Caleb thought for a moment. Ekko and Jinx were not the type to hide their strength. Warwick was more like someone steady and experienced.
The problem was that even Warwick, back when he was Vander, should not have had any secrets in front of a professional intelligence agent like the Gray Lady.
"If there really was such a detailed plan, then you should have even kept every member of the Firelights under watch."
Caleb's laughter gradually faded. He looked at Camille, who stood straight and elegantly lifted her teacup for a sip, then looked at Salo, whose face was ashen, and could not help tugging at the corners of his mouth again.
"Looks like this time, they lost the bet."
Looking at the councilors hurrying to the entrance, Caleb rested his chin on his hand, seeming somewhat indifferent.
Viewed this way, Jinx appearing at that place had probably also been guided by the Ferros family from behind the scenes.
Caleb looked at the councilors present. The only one whose expression could still be considered calm was Lucide.
"The Ferros family's business sense is much better than yours."
In the end, who sat in the councilor's seat did not matter at all, as long as that person could fulfill the role the Ferros family wanted them to fulfill.
And as the family that controlled the city's mouthpieces and intelligence network, the Ferros family itself could use all kinds of information gaps to gain profit.
Even now, with so many high-ranking beings supporting Caleb, without Raum, the secret-seeking demon inside Swain, Caleb probably still could not uproot the Ferros family's influence completely.
"You!"
Mel glared furiously at Lucide and Camille. Both of them were disposable pieces pushed out by the Ferros family.
But for all the other councilors, this had been a huge gamble.
Unfortunately, someone had thrown the match.
The key was that this one thrown move had truly appeared on the battlefield and become the decisive factor between victory and defeat.
Looking at Garen and Fiora, who had been tied up, Mel, who had taken the lead in this matter, collapsed weakly to the ground.
"From now on, go to the Talis family and be a good wife and mother."
After Mel heard this, the totem on her back faintly released a golden glow. Then she coughed up blood and struggled to sit down on the floor.
The power from among the stars had rejected her.
The Medarda family's assets in Piltover no longer belonged to her.
"If you have any objections, have Ambessa come talk to me herself."
What a joke. Caleb could now wipe out an entire legion by himself. How could he possibly fear that politician and warlord?
Mel's shocked pupils turned toward Caleb, while Lucide beside her could barely hide the joy on his face.
Caleb did not say much to the other councilors. To him, whether they lived or died was not important.
If Caleb had died, Ferros could even have replaced Mel's position, or used two council seats to play the decisive role in the council.
If Caleb survived this killing trap, even with only that tiny bit of help they had secretly provided, then the Ferros family could fully rely on the fact that they were the ones who had provided that help to completely take control of the council.
Even if Caleb was determined to personally manage Piltover alone and become the Lord of the Twin Cities, he would still need people under him to do the work.
Camille knew that Caleb traveled across the world. Even in Zaun, he did not actually manage much anymore and had handed everything over to Renata.
Then what about Piltover?
Just like Zaun, the Ferros family, which owned the most industries in the end, could also obtain the real authority to manage the city on his behalf.
No matter how one looked at it, they would not lose.
It could even be said that no matter the result, for the Ferros family, taking control of all of Piltover was only a matter of time.
The way of open schemes lay in making them impossible to refuse.
Even if Caleb wiped out the Ferros family completely, leaving aside how much that would affect Caleb's reputation, who could guarantee that the leader Caleb chose afterward would be better than them?
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810