Clean Air in Zaun

"Me?"

Called out by a burly man in iron armor, the young man pointed at himself with a bewildered look, his heart, however, filled with caution.

He recognized the iron armor the other man wore; it was reportedly discarded military equipment from Noxus. Not only was it impervious to knives, but even bullets couldn't penetrate it. And in Zaun, anyone wearing that armor now used to be one of Silco's lackeys.

Only now, they'd changed their name. Zaun Police Force, was it?

Oh, by Zaun, Silco's gangster thugs acting as police? Could anything be more ridiculous?

"That's right! You! I'm Pete from Zaun Police Squad 2, and I see you've got a sturdy build. Have you considered working for us?"

"Are you sure it's okay for your police squad to just recruit strangers off the street like this?" The young man was slightly taken aback.

"What's your name?"

"Me?" The young man hesitated for a moment. "Ekko!"

It was his real name, but he hadn't used it in a long time.

"Right, your name's Ekko, and mine's Pete. We've met today, so from now on, you're part of our Squad 2." Pete grinned guilelessly, patting Ekko's broad shoulder.

Oh, by Zaun, it really was unreliable to have gangster thugs as the police force.

Ekko sighed inwardly, and on cue, he quipped:

"No, I mean, the police squad should be similar to Piltover's Enforcement Office, right? They require a clean family background. You just casually recruiting someone off the street—it feels kind of fake, you know?"

Hearing this, Pete's expression turned serious, and he patted his chest plate:

"Do you know what this is?"

"Noxian standard armor?" Ekko asked cautiously.

"Hey, who's talking about that? Look at this symbol!" Pete pointed to the design on his chest plate.

Ekko squinted, noticing it was the image of a chemical注射器. He used to play with samples of it when he was a kid. It was the symbol of Zaun; no one knew who first drew it, but everyone felt it represented Zaun, so it had been kept.

"The Zaun symbol, I recognize it. I even have one hanging at home." Ekko stated truthfully.

He really did have one carved into a tree at his home, reminding him constantly to contribute to changing Zaun.

"Well, there you have it! You're from Zaun, and I'm from Zaun. People from Zaun would never lie to people from Zaun!" Pete laughed heartily and unrestrainedly.

What a charming, straightforward guy.

Ekko couldn't help but laugh inwardly.

When did all Zaunites become honest, kind-hearted good babies? Was this still the Zaun he knew?

"Alright then, I've decided to join you. Do I need to go through any procedures?"

Ekko wondered if he needed to pay an invitation fee or something. Surely Viktor wasn't such a great philanthropist that he'd just randomly assign jobs to any Zaunite he found.

"No procedures really, just take a photo for our records later. Oh, right, you'll need to show your face then. Is that okay?"

"Hey, my mask is for gas protection, but it seems different here now." Ekko hesitated, thinking no one should have seen his face, then took off his mask, revealing a young man's face.

He was truly interested in Zaun under Viktor's rule now.

Perhaps joining the police force was a good choice.

"It has to be different now. The air in Black Alley is sprayed with aromatics personally developed by Lord Viktor. They say if you inhale enough, it can even alleviate Shimmer addiction."

"Shimmer…"

Thinking of the chem-baron concoctions Silco had spread, Ekko felt a pang in his heart.

Countless people had died from drinking Shimmer. While they might have starved or died of thirst without it, he truly disliked this method of forcibly exchanging it for food and water.

The areas around Zaun were either sandy or polluted by factories. Not only could nothing grow, but even the water sources were stained purple, completely undrinkable.

Those with means could distill seawater for drinking, and the better off could get water from Piltover. But the people at the bottom could only thirst to death, praying for rain.

I hope Viktor is different.

Ekko clenched his fists and took a deep breath:

"What will we be doing? Will it be busy?"

"Of course, Zaun needs people everywhere now. Hold on, my job's here. Watch this, you'll have to do it too later."

As Pete spoke, under Ekko's curious gaze, he walked towards a dazed, emaciated young man.

"Cough, cough, stop! How many years have you been using Shimmer?"

"Two… two years!"

The young man trembled all over, almost fainting from fright, and collapsed onto the ground.

"Get up! We Zaunites are all hot-blooded men!"

Pete yanked the young man up, muttering emphatically:

"Two years, that's quite a long time. Your physical quality has gone down instead of up. Looks like your potential isn't great."

"Yes, yes, I just want to live properly."

The young man whimpered but stood firm.

"Alright, alright, I never said there was anything wrong with you. There's a job available now, food and water provided. You in or out?" Pete frowned, displeased with the young man's timid demeanor.

At his words, Ekko looked stunned.

Food and water provided?

Oh, Zaun above, why didn't he get such good treatment?

Was he less capable than this young man?

Ekko looked down at his own sturdy arms in confusion. No, they're thicker than that guy's thighs.

So, where did he go wrong?

"Really?! Yes! Of course, I'm in! How much Shimmer do I need to drink this time?" The young man's eyes lit up.

Hearing the young man's words, Ekko, however, frowned, a look of disgust in his eyes.

Had he misunderstood?

"Drink what Shimmer? With your potential, Shimmer? I can't even get Shimmer now. That stuff has to be professionally injected by people with potential. It's just manual labor, you in or out?"

Pete pursed his lips, a look of envy on his face as he spoke of Shimmer.

"Just manual labor? I'm in! As long as it provides food, I'll do anything." The young man's eyes glowed with hope for life.

"Alright, come to the Enforcement Office tomorrow. You can pick a few tasks to do, and your pay will be based on your completion rate, or you can exchange it for an equivalent amount of food and water," Pete explained.

"Don't say tomorrow, is there anything today?"

The young man pulled at Pete, his eyes full of anticipation.

"Yes, yes, yes, there are three suitable for you today: river inspection, hazardous building marking, and hazard source detection…"

Before Pete could finish, he saw the young man run off toward the Enforcement Office without a backward glance.

Pete stared blankly at the young man's actions, muttering a few Zaunite curses to himself before turning his head to Ekko:

"Do you understand?"

"They're assigning jobs to Zaunites. The weaker ones get assigned tasks by the Enforcement Office, while the stronger ones are directly recruited into the Enforcement Office. Everyone exchanges their labor for food," Ekko remarked with emotion.

In Zaun, at least until recently, the food and water Piltover used as social welfare were a luxury even to obtain through labor. Every coin here was tainted, and the law of the jungle was always at play.

He didn't know what the future of Zaun held, but in the eyes of that Shimmer-addicted young man, he saw something called hope.

If Viktor truly represented hope, and Silco was genuinely for Zaun… then were his long-term plans, meticulously crafted day and night, still necessary?

Hope, though not yet within reach, had never felt so close.

"Pete, take me to see the Enforcement Office. I want to contribute to Zaun too," Ekko said suddenly, his tone serious.

"Sure, I was just about to take you. The Enforcement Office is located in Black Alley. Its original site was a spacious shop with an attic above and a basement below. It's been converted into the current Enforcement Office building. I think it used to be called… Benzo's Shop. Yes, that's the name."

"Benzo's Shop, huh? It used to be a good place," Ekko paused slightly, his voice a little odd.

"Right, right, it really was a good place. It was chosen by Master Viktor himself. I remember we even found some creative inventions left by the shop owner's children. Master Viktor was quite regretful at the time, saying that if the shop owner's children hadn't died, they would have been very promising and could have made great contributions to Zaun."

Pete slapped his forehead. At the time, he was thrilled to be ordered by Silco to take Viktor to choose the location.

"Hahaha, I think so too."

A smile can always mask inner sorrow. Ekko suppressed his tears, following Pete into the place that was once Benzo's Shop, now renamed the Enforcement Office.

It had been years, and he was back.

Perhaps there was hope for the future.