"You're saying you want to take down a Chem-Baron? Wait—are you serious?"
Ekko stared at Logan like he'd lost his mind. "You can hit them, sure, but you want to pull them off the throne—tear down their rule completely?"
"Why not?" Logan replied.
Ekko shook his head, voice dropping. "Because you can't!"
"The Chem-Barons are all under Silco. He'll let his dogs fight each other, sure, but he won't let anyone else put their hands on that pie." Ekko lifted a hand and made a motion like toppling a pyramid. He looked Logan dead in the eye. "You're shaking his foundation. You're going after the base of his power. Do you get that?"
"If a Chem-Baron dies and you go to war with Silco for real, Zaun will fall into chaos. That's a terrible idea!"
"And in the end, it's everyone else who suffers!"
Without waiting for Logan to answer, Ekko kept going. "Honestly, I don't know how you managed to get Jinx to be like this, and I don't know how you got her away from Silco and following you, but Logan we need to act calmly —if you ask me, flipping the table on Silco right now is stupid."
Logan smiled.
Ekko had said we.
Meaning Ekko was thinking about this from Logan's side.
But… who said Silco was an outsider?
He was the Spirit Blossom Gang's sponsor, Hope Community's biggest shareholder, the man who could steer Zaun's future. How could he be an outsider?
Still, Ekko had a point. If Logan didn't know what kind of man Silco was—if he didn't know how deeply Silco loved Jinx—he'd be thinking exactly like Ekko.
Power was intoxicating. Silco was Zaun's emperor. The Chem-Barons answered to him—Zaun's crownless king. If someone tried to cut into his territory and split his cake, of course he'd lash out.
Making an enemy of Silco and plunging Zaun into chaos wasn't an empty threat.
At the very least, if Silco died, Zaun's economy would nosedive, and the Chem-Barons—leaderless—would tear each other apart over scraps. Zaun would sink straight into war.
But… Silco wasn't a man obsessed with power.
Logan believed that. If Silco was the same as he was in Arcane, then he wasn't someone who'd lose himself in power and abandon his ideals.
He was a man who, for Jinx, would rather hand himself over to Piltover and end the conflict between the two cities.
A man like that—how could he ever choose something that would hurt Jinx?
Honestly, it was kind of funny: Logan was starting to realize his whole rise so far was basically powered by Jinx.
Most of his energy came from her. The gang's weapons were made by her. The gang's funding came from her dad. Even taking territory smoothly happened because of her dad.
Jinx… was his treasure.
Thinking that, Logan couldn't help glancing over at her.
She was lying on the floor, long legs kicked up and swinging, chatting with Isha about something. She looked happy.
Carefree, cute little Jinx.
Damn—how was this little menace so addictive?
Seriously, who designed her?
"Did you understand what I said?" Ekko demanded, catching Logan's wandering eyes and forcing him back.
"I get it, Ekko. But you don't need to worry about that," Logan said with a smile. "You want something big? I'll hand you something big."
"I'll be waiting for the Firelights to join. Ekko, I need your talent, and I need the Firelights' strength. We have to unite. Understand?"
"You still don't get it." Ekko shook his head, disappointed.
Logan just smiled. "Then I'll wait for the day you bring the Firelights to me."
Heh. Is it that I don't understand?
No—you don't understand Silco, Ekko.
The next afternoon—
Forgen Tavern—
Inside, Silco took out a glass, poured himself a drink, and set it on the table.
Logan sat across from him and took the glass. "Silco, I came today because I need to talk to you about—"
"Tell me about Jinx first," Silco said quietly, drinking like he was trying to drown something.
Logan paused, then said, "She's doing great. She's put on a little weight lately, her dark circles are lighter, and she's even cuter. I wouldn't let her keep painting tattoos on herself, so she painted this on me instead."
As he spoke, Logan lifted his arm.
On his right arm was a bright blue cat—absurdly eye-catching.
Logan grinned at Silco.
"…"
Silco nodded. When he noticed Logan watching him, he tapped the table with a finger. Sevika stood behind him, silent as a statue.
Silco's voice was low. "Continue."
"I'm getting the feeling you're ordering me around…" Logan said, a little annoyed.
Silco smiled faintly. "With your relationship with Jinx, me having you do a few things—how is that excessive? Besides, you're building your little empire with my money. The one bankrolling you asks for something, and you've got complaints? Over something this small?"
"…Fine. You win," Logan muttered.
Silco wasn't wrong.
Forget the personal relationships—Silco funding him alone was enough reason to be grateful.
Money was exactly what Logan needed most… and what he had the least ability to get on his own.
Lucky for him, Silco had plenty.
Logan said, "She's been working on air filtration. She's already burned a lot of money on it. Hear that, Silco? I said she's already burned a lot of money."
"Will that thing actually work?" Silco ignored the money emphasis and asked about the filtration.
People in the Lanes had tried experiments like that before. They all failed.
The reason was simple—filters could only handle a small area of the Grey, but Zaun…
Zaun had poison in the air everywhere.
Logan smiled and nodded. "It will. Early tests already fully purified a space of several dozen square meters. The problem is the filter cores wear out too fast. Jinx thinks if you want to truly change Zaun's air, you have to change things at the source. She's got a bold plan—start by changing the Sumps. She wants to rip out all the wastewater pipes that connect Zaun to Piltover and replace them with her own metal conduits—filtered and purified."
"And greenery. Plants solve a lot of problems."
"Air, range, even soil remediation—anyway, she's been researching all of it nonstop."
Silco's expression turned… strange.
Logan couldn't tell what he was thinking.
But inside that complicated look, there was a trace of guilt.
Silco nodded, rolling his drink in the glass. "She seems happy with you?"
"Of course. She sleeps well, eats well. She has a sister, she has a little sister, she has me. But Silco… sometimes she talks about you. When she sleeps, she calls your name in her dreams."
That was true. Logan wasn't lying.
Last time Jinx fell asleep with her face against his chest, thumb in her mouth, she mumbled Silco's name.
The moment Logan said it, Silco's hand visibly stiffened around the glass. He set it down and started turning his chair—almost the same way Jinx did when she spun around in hers.
Like he didn't want Logan to see his face.
But when he turned, he found Sevika staring down at him. Silco had no choice but to turn back, facing Logan again.
And Logan saw it—Silco's smile, badly hidden. He tried to suppress it, but the corner of his mouth gave him away.
"Alright. We've done the small talk." Silco said. "Now tell me why you're here, Logan."
Logan immediately said, "I want to take a Chem-Baron down. The Spirit Blossom Gang's territory isn't enough anymore."
Silco lifted his gaze. "You're sitting in front of me, telling me you want to take my people down?"
"Can't I?"
"Are we really that close?" Silco's smile vanished, his tone turning cold.
"Of course. You're Jinx's father, I'm Jinx's partner, we—"
"You're really together?" Silco frowned.
Logan sighed. "What do you think? With Jinx's personality…" Logan lifted a hand and pointed at his own head. "And the little issue she's got up here—if I said no, what do you think she'd do?"
Silco chuckled. "Probably tie you up while you're asleep, rig the room with bombs, and threaten you into being with her. Or she'll die with you."
"Exactly. So the night I ended up in the same bed as her, I stopped having an exit. Not that I want one. I like her. She's got charm, she's beautiful, and I like her."
"Wait," Silco said slowly. "You said… the same bed?"
Silco's hand slid under the table, and the smile on his face died again.
Motherf—
Damn it.
What now?!
"I didn't do anything." Logan raised both hands, exasperated. He didn't think he feared guns anymore, but this was not the time to pick a fight with Silco. He could give this ground.
Never, ever provoke a father in front of the subject of his daughter.
"Hmph."
Silco let out a cold laugh.
Logan looked at him and forced a shameless grin. "Besides, it's not like you're losing anything, right?"
"You don't actually care about those Chem-Barons. You gathered them to concentrate Zaun's strength so you could negotiate with Piltover and win independence."
"But Silco… don't you think what I'm doing now is the better path?"
Silco said nothing. He just watched Logan.
"And anyway, you've got to be sick of those Chem-Barons by now, right?" Logan pressed. "Think about it. Who did you used to work with? Vander. Benzo. Sevika. And now? Now you have to sit in rooms with those clowns."
When Logan said her name, Sevika narrowed her eyes at him.
Annoyingly… that line did make her feel kind of good.
And what was weird was, Sevika didn't dislike Logan, but she didn't exactly like him either. Before, she only looked after him because Zaun's future belonged to the younger generation.
But today? Something felt off.
Since the moment Logan walked in, Sevika had kept thinking the same thing—
This guy was… easy to look at. Comfortable.
"Who do you want to deal with?" Silco asked.
"I haven't decided. That's why I'm here asking you," Logan said. Then he added, "I figured I should at least tell you first. Even though I think me, Vi, and Jinx are already enough to crush a Chem-Baron… I want to train the troops."
"…"
Silco's mouth twitched. "So let me get this straight. You're telling me you're going after my people, and you also want me to help make sure your people don't get hurt?"
That phrase—train the troops—was doing a lot of work.
Training meant drills.
Drills meant no casualties.
Logan smiled and nodded.
Right now Logan only felt one thing: pure satisfaction. It was ridiculously satisfying.
Chem-Barons—people Ekko and Zeri feared, people they had to tiptoe around—standing in front of Logan now, they felt like…
They felt like a pile of trash.
Then again, Silco could walk into a Chem-Baron meeting, casually grip them by the throat, and kill any of them whenever he wanted. Yeah… once Silco was on Logan's side, the Chem-Barons really were a pile of trash.
Because their boss was with Logan.
It was like stepping into a boxing ring—
The referee is on your side. If you push things far enough, the referee might jump in and beat your opponent with you.
So how the hell are you supposed to win?
"I don't remember you being this shameless," Silco said.
Logan shrugged. "It's good for you too. If your tail gets too big, it becomes a problem. You've wanted to smack them down yourself for a while, haven't you?"
"They've been getting more and more out of line under the table," Logan said.
Silco put both hands on the table, pinched the bridge of his nose, and thought for a while. Then he said:
"Finn. You know the name?"
Logan blinked, thought it over, then nodded.
That "Iron-Guts Lighter Hero."
Came in looking like some mini-boss, even tried to flip Sevika… and what happened?
Written out the same season—plus he handed Silco a legendary scene that made Silco look even colder.
"Then it's him," Silco said. "You can hit him. Time… three days from now."
"I'll call a meeting with the other Barons, get him alone, and I'll have people keep an eye on his operations so his men stay inside his turf. But I won't send anyone to help you."
Just like Logan said, even before Logan showed up, Silco had already been thinking about knocking those bastards back into line.
And helping Logan wasn't only for Jinx.
Silco also wanted to see—between him and Vander—who was right.
Back then, he never got the chance to compete with Vander on the same stage. When Vander was on top, his policies weren't much different from what Logan was doing now. Then Silco rose, Vander died…
But now Logan, carrying Vander's will, might—just might—give Silco an answer.
Logan smiled.
After talking a bit more, Logan left, satisfied.
Sevika stood behind Silco and couldn't help asking, "Why are you helping him?"
"Helping him?"
Silco turned back. "Why do you see it that way?"
"Sevika… the only thing I'm helping…"
"Is Zaun," Silco said, eyes steady and unwavering.
Whether it was him or Logan, two different philosophies—if either one succeeded, Zaun would be the one who benefited.
That was what he cared about. Always.
And of course…
Jinx.