Something like what happened on Redwater Street was happening all over the Entresol and throughout the Sump today. It was just one small snapshot. Every Zaunite was going to be busy.
The loudspeaker announcements that blasted through the streets this morning made Zaunites briefly forget their grudges against each other. In fact, a lot of the people caught up in it were just like Gordon earlier—they didn't really understand what was happening today, or what all these Zaunites in the streets were even doing.
But the moment they saw them—busy, eyes lit up, running around with purpose—those people would be drawn in like moths chasing firelight, pulled closer without even thinking.
Because they'd lived in the dark for so long, they needed light more than anyone.
And then they would join in.
"Logan… this is even faster than I imagined!"
Standing beside Logan, Silco looked up at the sealed wastewater pipe. They were in the Lanes—there was a massive wastewater line running above the Forgen Tavern, and now a group of former Firelights were emerging with grins on their faces, drenched in filthy water and reeking of toxic fumes. Instead of backing away, people crowded toward them, welcoming them like heroes.
As Logan's strongest force, the Firelights were already agile and tough. And with Ekko's influence, every one of them had become a skilled craftsman too. Sealing a wastewater pipe and rerouting its flow was naturally no problem.
That was why the Firelights were the first to succeed.
When the huge iron collar—complete with a circular, oversized locking clasp—was driven into the pipe, Silco's voice wavered for once. His emotions were clearly running high. The hand gripping his cane clenched so hard his knuckles turned pale. He stared at Logan, excitement impossible to hide in his eyes.
"How many people showed up today? I expected this job would take three days, but looking at it now—one day, Logan. We only need one day to finish changing all these wastewater pipes!"
"How many?" Logan thought for a moment, then answered, "Firefly Community probably sent over six hundred residents. And from Hope Community, every man came except the kids and the women. Add the Spirit Blossom Gang's manpower… I'd say I alone mobilized close to two thousand people?"
"No. It's more than that. Look at the Lanes—there are already over two thousand people just around here." Silco shook his head.
Silco had plenty of people under him, but compared to Logan now… it suddenly felt like nothing.
A gang was a gang. Residents were residents. You had to separate the two.
Under Silco, the only ones truly loyal to him were gang members. The rest—Zaunites who worked in his factories, merchants who bought Shimmer from him to sell, business partners—those weren't his people. They wouldn't actually obey him.
"Why… did something this simple take us hundreds of years without ever getting done?" Silco suddenly said.
He truly couldn't understand it.
Once this was done, it was so electrifying it felt like Zaun had declared independence—like they'd really thrown off Piltover's rule. Look at them: every Zaunite who joined in carried a sense of pride. Light shone in their faces and their eyes. And yet the work itself was so… straightforward.
Just block the pipes, reroute the toxic water. Zaun's workers all had the skill for it. It was ridiculously doable.
So why had no one done it before?
Why hadn't I thought of it?
"Simple? This isn't simple at all, Silco." Hearing Silco's mutter, Logan shook his head and laughed.
"Once we change these pipes, we're truly going against Piltover." Logan raised a hand and pointed at the web of pipes crisscrossing the sky, continuing, "And this job needs massive manpower and resources. Haven't you noticed? If the residents of Zaun weren't willing to participate, just the two of us—your people plus the Spirit Blossom Gang—there's no way this finishes in three days."
"At minimum, it'd take half a month. There are just too many pipes. We're only moving this fast because everyone joined in. Otherwise, before we even got halfway, Piltover would come down here."
"They won't just sit there and let us do this. This is us slapping them in the face."
Logan looked at Silco again. "And if—just if, Silco—if I hadn't shown up, and you were still manufacturing Shimmer, selling it to residents, letting Zaun's gangs run wild and keeping everyone scared… would you still think this project is 'simple'?"
Silco listened in silence, eyes fixed on Logan. He pressed his lips together, then gave a breezy shake of his head. "I know what you're trying to say."
"Logan… you really are Vander's good son." He suddenly smiled, a lot of the gloom leaving his face. Even his crimson eye looked less frightening.
He reached forward as if grasping something in the air, then spoke softly to Logan. "I'll say it again. Different eras require different methods. I know how many people I've hurt—but I still don't think I was wrong. And to use your own words… aren't you using my money right now?"
"If I didn't sell Shimmer to the whole world, if I didn't take control of Zaun and reshape its economic system… if all we had was hauling rocks and breaking our backs, then even if you had people, without money, could you still do something like this?" Silco asked.
Logan rolled his eyes, speechless.
Fine. Silco wasn't wrong about that either.
To pull this off, you needed both money and people. You couldn't be missing either one.
But then Silco continued, "That said… I do admit I was wrong about one thing."
"Vander wasn't wrong."
"Because he gathered strength and let Zaun recover, there are still so many healthy people left in Zaun today…"
"If one day you could see Vander again, what would you say to him?" Logan's eyes shifted slightly, and he asked abruptly.
Vander was dead, sure… but he was already in a comeback match.
Logan believed that with absolute certainty. Anyone who'd watched Arcane knew the truth: Vander was the wolf.
And anyone who played League knew it too—especially with Swain's easter egg voice line. Warwick being Vander was basically locked in. The only question was whether Vander would return as a bloodthirsty monster… or as that stern, gentle father figure again.
Logan wasn't worried. He had Spirit Blossom at his back—Ahri was a demigod. And Vander's problem was tied up with souls, which was exactly what the Spirit Blossom champions excelled at.
"See him again?" Silco laughed. "If he saw me, the moment I opened my mouth to explain, he'd probably charge me and punch me twice. And then I'd black out. I'm the one who personally shoved him down there, and I put a knife in his kidney."
Silco smiled, hands clasped behind his back, continuing, "He wasn't like that with you kids. You've probably never seen what he looks like when he's truly angry. I used to see it all the time."
"Vander was never a gentle man."
"But if I could see him again… I'd hug him. I'd give him a drink. I'd apologize. And then I'd tell him the thing we both dreamed of—some damn kid actually went and made it happen."
"Are you complimenting me right now?" Logan laughed, flashing white teeth at Silco.
Silco's mouth curled upward. He spread his hands. "Who knows?"
"Then I'll take it as a compliment."
"Alright. Next stop. The wastewater line over Spirit Blossom Community should be almost finished too."
"Yeah. Let's go."
Forty minutes later, Spirit Blossom Community.
Just as Logan had said, the wastewater pipe above the Spirit Blossom Gang's place had already been handled.
A group of Spirit Blossom Gang members—changed into clean clothes, looking exhausted but buzzing with excitement—spotted Logan and hurried over.
"Boss! Just like Jinx said—once the root cause is cut off, no more toxic gas comes out!"
"Boss, when do we start the air purification device?"
The Spirit Blossom Gang's base was in a more remote part of the Lanes. The wastewater pipes here weren't like the Forgen Tavern area with its massive main trunk and a jungle of small lines. Over here, there was just a single pipe about two meters wide.
"No rush." Logan patted the man's shoulder and smiled. "Once every wastewater pipe in the Sump is dealt with, then we'll turn on the air purification device."
Right then, a bright, sharp voice rang out—and a tall figure burst out of the building, practically vibrating with excitement.
"Logan! We got the test data!"
Jinx wore practical work clothes. Her long braids had been tied into two oversized buns at the back of her head. She had so much hair, and her braids were so long, those two blue "buns" bounced like they had springs in them as she ran.
Her face was bare—cute and fresh—her bangs clipped back with a hairpin so her whole face was exposed.
Between regular, healthy meals and the fact that she now had a human body pillow named Logan and a plush named Isha, Jinx's sleep quality had gotten ridiculously good. With a healthier routine, the dark circles that used to look like smudged eyeliner were gone. Her bright blue eyes sparkled, her small nose was dotted with sweat, and her cheeks were lightly flushed.
Aside from being a little too pale in an unhealthy way, she looked sunny now—no longer shadowed and gloomy.
Of course, that also had a lot to do with how she was dressed. Because deep down, she hadn't changed that much.
Even at her most unhinged, there was still Powder's shadow inside her. Like that fight with Ekko on the bridge—she'd been out of her mind, but in truth… she'd gone there to die.
And seeing Jinx like this, Silco's eyes filled with complicated emotion.
Was Logan really raising Jinx… better than he had?
"Gotcha!" Jinx threw herself into Logan's arms, hugged him tight, and tipped her face up toward him, beaming. "The furball didn't lie to us! If we fix the root cause and then use the air purification device, Zaun's air really can improve!"
"In the test just now, we saw the toxins and particulates in the air stopped increasing. They didn't drop either, but they stabilized! Of course, that's only in the central area here—if you go farther out, it changes again."
Logan hugged her back, laughing along with her.
But he didn't get to say "That's great," because behind him, someone cleared their throat.
"Ahem." Silco curled a fist in front of his mouth, watching Jinx with a hint of displeasure in his eyes.
"Huh? Silco, you're here too?" Jinx peeked out from Logan's shoulder, saw Silco, and blurted out in surprise.
"???"
Silco: "…"
"I don't recall ever teaching you that you can casually hug men, Jinx," Silco said heavily.
"Yeah, but you never used to care what I did." Jinx clicked her tongue. "When I hugged Ben, you didn't stop me, did you? Oh—speaking of him, I haven't seen him in a while. Has it been a long time?"
"Yeah. And now I care. Is that a problem?" Silco shot back.
Ben? The bartender from the Forgen Tavern?
Jinx didn't know it, but the very next day Silco had assigned that man to the docks—handling smuggling runs to Bilgewater.
"You feel kind of weird lately." Jinx made a face, but she still let go of Logan's back and stood to the side, looking at Silco with a bright, pretty smile.
Silco let out a cold snort, irritation in his voice. "Yeah. I am weird lately."
"And whose fault is that… when I have a daughter who never lets me relax?"
Jinx blinked her beautiful blue eyes, lashes fluttering—then she suddenly stepped forward and hugged Silco tight.
"You sound really nice today."
Silco's face immediately tried to pull into a scowl, but his mouth betrayed him anyway, twitching at the corners.
When Logan looked over, Silco glared at him—then still lifted a hand and lightly patted Jinx on the back.
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