Reform takes time. After the Firelights were folded into the Spirit Blossom Gang, Logan didn't do what Ekko expected—he didn't break them apart, scatter them, and rebuild them into the Spirit Blossom Gang. Instead, he let the Firelights keep growing freely inside their own community.
At the end of the day, compared to the Firelights' existing fighting strength, what Logan really needed was Ekko himself.
And because of that, so Ekko could feel safe focusing on researching a new energy source, Logan didn't dismantle the Firelights.
But reforming a new turf wasn't as smooth as it had been in Hope Community, because this area used to belong to Finn—it was a district where gang rackets were deeply entrenched.
The Spirit Blossom Gang took over all of Finn's operations quickly and moved directly to overhaul them, but plenty of people still refused to submit to the Spirit Blossom Gang's control.
Once money is involved, clashes are unavoidable.
What the Spirit Blossom Gang did impacted the income of a lot of locals. Of course they were unhappy. Of course they resisted.
That wasn't strange at all. Even in Hope Community, petty theft still happened all the time. After all the years Silco ruled Zaun, far too many people had gotten used to taking without working for it. If you wanted them to go find a proper job and live the kind of ordinary life ordinary people were supposed to live, they obviously weren't going to be thrilled.
Because of that, Vi had been busy lately. Really busy.
The squad she led—plus the second squad of grassroots enforcers Scar put together—had been doing nonstop crackdowns and cleanups across the community these past days.
There wasn't time for endless talking. If someone didn't listen once or twice, then the next time you met, you started with a punch—and you asked your questions while you were hitting them.
As a modern person, Logan would've felt that violent enforcement wasn't ideal. But this was Zaun—and in Zaun at this point in time, weakness only made people push harder. They wouldn't be grateful for Logan's kindness. They'd just get bolder and try to squeeze even more out of him.
So Vi and Scar's actions were, in truth, Logan's orders.
Logan ordered every existing gang in the district driven out. If they refused to leave, then they could leave their lives behind instead. In this stretch of time, the number of Zaunites who died because of Logan… was genuinely not small.
And if the loafers and street punks were willing to change, they could stay and build a future here too. But if they kept refusing again and again, then they could look forward to eating the undercity enforcers' fists.
Luckily, Zaun had been a mess for so many years, but not everyone had gone with the flow. Not everyone was willing to wallow with the chem-barons. In Zaun, most people still wanted a new life—and they were willing to change for it.
For the residents of Finn's district, what they'd originally hoped for was simple: as long as the new chem-baron wasn't worse than Finn, as long as he didn't squeeze them harder than Finn did, they could accept it.
But after watching for a few days, they realized… he didn't seem to be planning to squeeze them at all?
And on top of that, he was actually supporting them in doing business?
Yes. He really was supporting them!
Those operations that used to belong to Finn—Logan didn't swallow them up. Instead, he turned them into marketplaces, opened up for everyone to use for free, so they could sell food, parts, and all kinds of goods there.
And all they had to do was hand in a small portion of their profit at the end of every month as community funds. According to that cute girl—her hair crackling like sparks, tied into two weird little pigtails—that money belonged to everyone, not to the new chem-baron. And if anyone needed, the new chem-baron was even willing to publish every single account and ledger for everyone to see.
Holy shit—was this still Zaun?!
This new chem-baron… Janna above, please, you have to bless him with a long life and endless victories!
And five days later, as this new community started gaining real shape and real rules, it was time for it to have a name of its own.
Because most of the people here were Firelights, and because Ekko had stepped down to become a researcher, the old Firelights suddenly had no clear leader. Almost instinctively, they pushed Scar forward as the Firelights' new leader. And after Scar asked Logan, he was granted the right to name the community.
Logan told him to name it himself.
So Scar sat alone inside a tent and thought for more than two hours.
When he finally stepped out, he'd made a decision—without asking Ekko, a decision he made directly, because he believed Ekko would want the same thing.
He'd followed Ekko for so many years. As Ekko's closest lieutenant, he knew exactly what kind of person Ekko was.
And precisely because they longed for a better life, that very afternoon Scar took the initiative to formally disband the Firelights—and this time, not a single member objected.
Back when Ekko stepped down and recommended Scar, it was because they were afraid that without a group, they'd go back to being isolated individuals again—easy to bully. But the time they'd spent living alongside the Spirit Blossom Gang, and the changes in the new community over these days, had already given them their answer.
Ekko had been right. Their new leader was the same kind of person they were—someone working for a better Zaun.
So the Firelights became Zaun's history.
Now, there was only the Spirit Blossom Gang.
And the new community was named—
Firefly.
A firefly's glow can still contend with the moon.
We know it's foolish for a firefly's light to try and measure itself against the sun and moon. We know that perfectly well.
But we still want to do it anyway.
That was the reason the Firelights existed in the first place!
When Logan heard the name Scar chose, he burst out laughing.
Of course, he wasn't laughing at the Firelights' "stupidity."
He was praising their spirit.
———
Piltover. The arrival of a group like this drew the attention of the topsiders.
Seeing this bunch—raggedly dressed, moving in a pack—Pilties' eyes turned openly unfriendly.
"Damn it, I really want to put a fist in his face," Manzu said through clenched teeth, glaring back at a Piltover man in a top hat who wouldn't stop staring.
"Relax, Manzu. Look at me, look at Vi—we're used to it," Willa said, completely unconcerned. Then he added, "First time you've come up here to buy materials, huh? Stop staring and hurry up. Buy what we need and get out. Who the hell wants to stay in their city?"
Manzu nodded.
"Hey, you notice something?" one of the shorter guys in the group said. "Piltover's been acting weird lately. Look at their faces—they're even more sour than last time we came."
Zeri was in the team too. It was her first time coming topside on the gang's dime.
The instruments and materials Ekko and Jinx needed for development—making them by hand would take time, and even if you made them, they might not work. I mean, when you're assembling things out of junk materials, usability is always a gamble.
When it came to precision, Piltover really did crush Zaun. That was something Zaunites had to admit. They might have boldness and creativity, but in rigor and meticulousness, they couldn't match Piltover.
Vi walked at the front of the group, and she also felt that Piltover wasn't quite right lately.
For example—
Those red-clad guys?
Head to toe covered in red, helmets on, weapons in hand, standing around Piltover. There were only two or three of them, but with that look and that presence, they stood out like a flare.
Did something happen?
Vi wondered, curious. Then she passed a park—and stopped.
"What is it?" Willa turned back when he saw Vi halt.
Vi had one hand in her pocket while she lifted the other, smiling. "Spotted a cute one~"
"You guys go buy the materials first. I'll catch up."
After she said that, without waiting for Willa or Manzu to respond, she vaulted the iron fence in one smooth motion and walked into the park.
Willa and Manzu muttered something under their breath, but they didn't say much more.
Vi headed toward a wall decorated in Piltover's style. A tall woman stood with her back to Vi, wearing an enforcer uniform and a cap, head lowered as if she was looking at something.
Vi walked up behind her with both hands in her pockets, rose onto her toes, leaned in close to her ear, and murmured softly:
"Good afternoon~"
"Cupcake."