Levi and Seraphine stood on the Hextech Mobile Stage, soaring together through the sky.
As they rode the wind across half of Piltover, taking in the magnificent scenery from above, they naturally became the scenery in the eyes of others.
However, to certain people, this sight was anything but amusing.
"Aubrey, did you see that thing that just flew past in the sky?"
At the Iron Fist Gang headquarters, the gang leader, Avery, stood by the window, staring up at the sky with a gloomy expression.
His younger brother, Aubrey—the fat man who had previously been severely beaten by Levi—had finally recovered from his heavy injuries. Well, barely recovered enough to walk with crutches.
"I saw it too, bro."
Hearing his brother's question, Aubrey immediately hobbled over on his crutches with great difficulty.
Unlike his gloomy-faced brother, Avery, his plump face showed no signs of tension at all.
"That thing that just flew past looked like a... uh, a lotus platform. Yeah, a lotus platform!"
"I heard the temples in Ionia are full of statues standing on those things."
Aubrey showed off his knowledge as if he had just discovered something novel.
But his mountain-sized brother, Avery, slapped him hard across the top of his head, leaving him dazed.
"Lotus platform!" Smack!
"Lotus platform!" Smack!
"A fucking lotus platform is all you saw?!" Avery was so furious he almost ripped his brother's head off. "Did you not see who the two people standing on it were?"
"That was Levi! And Boss Ivern's daughter, Seraphine!"
Avery now had a very detailed grasp of the intelligence regarding Levi's faction.
He recognized all the key members of the Windguides, including Seraphine.
Because ever since they formed a grudge a week ago, someone from above had informed him that he had provoked a mage and the legitimate daughter of House Kiramman, ordering him to keep his head down and act like an obedient dog...
Avery had realized the situation was dire and began seriously gathering intelligence on them.
Less than two days later, an organization called the Windguides suddenly popped up in Piltover.
The Windguides wanted to go into the factories, enter the communities, and help the suffering Zaunite apprentices...
That meant they would inevitably step into the Iron Fist Gang's territory and clash with the gang that dominated the order of the Zaunite Community.
In just the past short week, the Windguides' propagandists had already gotten into several conflicts with the Iron Fist Gang's thugs.
"These people are Levi's subordinates, or perhaps Lady Caitlyn's!"
"And they are clearly coming straight for our Iron Fist Gang!"
Avery was no fool. He could clearly sense the Windguides' hostility toward the Iron Fist Gang.
Lady Caitlyn alone was enough to give him a massive headache.
And this Levi...
"He can even fly!"
"And he has some fucking 'lotus platform'!"
He could fly, and fly fast. This proved the rumors were true; Levi was not only a mage but a rather powerful one.
His appearance here also meant that Stillwater Hold couldn't contain him at all.
And that "lotus platform" was clearly no ordinary item; it looked like some formidable magical artifact.
A mage equipped with a divine artifact—that kind of power wasn't a simple equation of one plus one equals two.
"You stupid pig!" Avery angrily beat his brother again. "Look at the fucking mess you've brought upon us!"
"You actually dared to provoke a mage—are you afraid your brother isn't going to die fast enough?"
"Bro..." Aubrey the fat man looked incredibly wronged.
"Did you see it wrong?" He still couldn't believe that Levi was a mage playing the fool to hide his strength. "Is that kid Levi really some kind of mage?"
"I just fought him a week ago. Even though I lost in the end, I..."
"I almost solo killed Levi."
"At best, he's evenly matched with me!"
Avery was speechless.
Smack! He delivered another slap.
"Motherfucker!" If the fat man Aubrey hadn't said that from the very beginning, causing him to misjudge Levi's strength, he never would have called the police to arrest Levi and brought such a colossal disaster upon himself.
But now, it was too late to say anything.
Levi and the Windguides he led were making almost no effort to hide the fact that they were coming for the Iron Fist Gang.
"Even ignoring everything else, there's no way I can deal with Levi alone!" Avery had a very clear understanding of his own strength. Regardless of how strong Levi actually was, the mere fact that he could fly guaranteed he would remain invincible against ordinary mortals.
"T-then what should we do?" Aubrey finally started to panic.
He looked submissively at his older brother, hoping his invincible sibling would quickly come up with a solution like he always did.
Avery remained silent for a long time.
Then, this mountain of a muscular, imposing man actually revealed a defeated, resentful expression.
"Actually, just now..."
"A mysterious person who refused to reveal their identity approached me. They said they were willing to provide me with a batch of equipment to help me deal with the Windguides."
"Equipment?" Aubrey failed to catch the underlying implication, simply asking out of curiosity, "What kind of equipment?"
"A new invention from Zaun. A type of individual combat armor forged from Chemtech—the Turbo Chemtank."
"A Shimmer Warrior equipped with a Turbo Chemtank can unleash physical capabilities ten times stronger than normal."
"That powerful?" Aubrey's eyes lit up as he listened. "Then this is a good thing!"
A mysterious person gifting them equipment, and such powerful equipment at that—how could this not be a good thing?
"Good my ass!" Avery cursed viciously. "Use your pig brain and think carefully—"
"Why would someone give us such rare Chemtech equipment for free?"
The other party refused to disclose their origins and made no demands of the Iron Fist Gang. They merely stated they wanted to help them deal with the Windguides and handed over a batch of priceless, god-tier equipment for free...
This indicated at least three things:
First, the other party had immense financial resources and a significant background.
Second, the other party wanted to cause trouble for the Windguides but was unwilling to step onto the battlefield themselves.
Third, from the previous two points, it could be deduced that the Windguides were incredibly strong!
So strong that those powerful factions hidden behind Piltover were unwilling to easily make an enemy out of Levi.
They only dared to cower behind the scenes, throwing out cannon fodder like the Iron Fist Gang to pin down and test the Windguides' true strength.
Gifting Avery equipment wasn't an act of care for a loyal hound.
It was out of concern that he was too weak and would die too quickly to serve his purpose.
"We're finished," Avery sighed, his heart turning to ash. "These damn Pilties, they plan to use us as discarded pawns, throwing us out to feed Levi!"
This explanation thoroughly terrified his younger brother, Aubrey.
He never expected that his initial "good intentions" of trying to introduce Levi to a wealthy older woman would bring such a catastrophic disaster upon the Iron Fist Gang.
'Levi, you motherfucker...'
'You're this overpowered and you still borrow from loan sharks! Fuck...'
'These son-of-a-bitch Transcendents, all they know is how to play the fool to hide their strength and toy with mortals all day... Is there no justice, no law anymore?!'
Aubrey cursed up a storm internally, wanting to cry but having no tears left.
Finally, amidst his anger, helplessness, and cowardice, he tentatively asked Avery, "Bro, what should we do then?"
"Should we run away?"
"Run away?" Avery gave a miserable smile. "Do you think the kind of people who can hand out a dozen Turbo Chemtanks with a wave of their hand would give us the chance to run? Run? Where could we even run to?"
Compared to the Windguides, Avery was far more terrified of the big shots in Piltover.
He had done too much dirty work for them and knew far too much. A person like him had no right to walk out of Piltover alive.
Running away was an absolute dead end.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Aubrey asked in despair. "Are we just going to sit here and wait for Levi to bring his people over and wipe us out?"
"There's no other way," Avery sighed.
The lords had already sent someone to make their stance clear, offering to "help him deal with the Windguides."
This was actually an order for him to fight Levi.
Refusing to fight was a guaranteed death sentence. If he tried to risk it all, he might just carve out a sliver of survival.
And since they had to fight, they needed to seize the initiative.
The Windguides hadn't made any real moves yet, and they had tried their best to maintain restraint during their few conflicts with the Iron Fist Gang.
This indicated that Levi wasn't completely confident in taking down the Iron Fist Gang, or rather, he couldn't take them down without suffering casualties.
"Since that's the case, we absolutely cannot give him time to build up his strength and prepare in peace. Otherwise, we'll only suffer a worse defeat!"
"Tomorrow—" Avery clenched his fists fiercely.
"Tomorrow, we take the initiative and fight Levi to the death!"