"Me?"
Stopped by a burly man in iron armor, the sturdy young man pointed at himself in confusion, though wariness rose in his heart.
He recognized the iron armor on the other man. It was said to be military equipment discarded by Noxus; not even bullets could penetrate it, let alone blades. And in present-day Zaun, anyone wearing such an outfit had once been one of Silco's lackeys.
It had merely been renamed now. It seemed to be called the Zaun Police Force?
Oh, Zaun above, Silco's gang enforcers becoming police officers—was there anything more ridiculous?
"That's right! You! I'm Pete from Zaun Police Force Team Two. You look sturdy enough. Ever considered working with us?"
"Is it really okay for your police force to recruit strangers like this?" The sturdy young man was slightly stunned.
"What's your name?"
"Me?" The sturdy young man hesitated. "Ekko!"
It was his real name, but he had not used it in a long time.
"There, your name's Ekko, and mine's Pete. We met today, so starting today, you're one of Team Two." Pete grinned honestly and patted Ekko's solid shoulder.
Oh, Zaun above, making gang enforcers into police officers really was unreliable.
Ekko sighed inwardly, then went along with it and voiced his complaint.
"No, shouldn't a police force be like Piltover's Enforcement Office? They require clean backgrounds over there. You just pull someone off the street and recruit them. Why does this feel fake?"
At those words, Pete's expression turned solemn as he patted his breastplate.
"Do you know what this is?"
"Noxian standard armor?" Ekko asked cautiously.
"Hey, who's talking about that? Look at this emblem!" Pete pointed at the design on his breastplate.
Ekko looked closely and discovered that it depicted a medicinal syringe. He had even played with a sample of one when he was young. It was Zaun's symbol. No one knew who had drawn it first, but everyone felt it represented Zaun, so it had been kept.
"Zaun's emblem. I know it. There's even one hanging in my home," Ekko said truthfully.
There really was one carved into the tree at his home, always reminding him that he had to do his part to change Zaun.
"Then there you go. You're a Zaunite, and I'm a Zaunite. Zaunites never lie to Zaunites!" Pete laughed heartily.
What an adorably straightforward guy.
Ekko could not help smiling inwardly.
Since when had Zaunites become honest, kind little angels? Was this still the Zaun he knew?
"Sure, I've decided to join you. Do I need to go through any procedures?"
Ekko wondered whether he had to pay some sort of recruitment fee. Viktor could not really be such a great philanthropist that he would assign jobs to any random Zaunite he found.
"No procedures. We'll just take a photo for the record later. Oh, right, your face has to show. Is that okay?"
"Well, this mask is for toxic gas, but this place seems different now." Ekko hesitated. Thinking that no one had likely seen his face, he removed the mask, revealing a youthful face.
He was genuinely interested in Zaun under Viktor's rule now.
Perhaps joining the Police Office would be a good choice.
"Of course it's different. The Black Alley is sprayed with fragrance personally developed by Lord Viktor. They say inhaling enough of it can even ease Shimmer addiction."
"Shimmer."
Thinking of the alchemical drug spread by Silco, Ekko's heart ached faintly.
Countless people had died because they drank Shimmer. Though they might have starved or died of thirst without it, he could never approve of using it to forcibly exchange for food and water.
The land around Zaun was either sandy or contaminated by factories. Forget growing crops—even the water sources had been dyed purple and were completely undrinkable.
Those with the means could distill seawater before drinking it. Those better off could get water from Piltover. The people at the bottom could only endure their thirst and pray for rain.
He hoped Viktor would be different.
Ekko clenched his fist and took a deep breath.
"What are we going to do? Will we be very busy?"
"Of course. Zaun needs people everywhere right now. Wait, my work's here. Watch carefully—you'll have to do this too in the future."
As Pete spoke, Ekko watched curiously as he walked toward a gaunt young man with vacant eyes.
"Ahem, stop! How many years have you been using Shimmer?"
"T-two years!"
The young man shuddered all over, nearly fainting from fright, then collapsed onto the ground.
"Get up. We Zaunites are all hot-blooded men!"
Pete yanked the young man to his feet and spoke with great conviction.
"Two years—that's quite a while. Your physical condition has declined instead of improved. Looks like you don't have much potential."
"Y-yes, yes. I just want to live properly."
The young man spoke with a sob in his voice, but he still steadied himself.
"Alright, alright, I didn't say there was anything wrong with you. There's a job now that provides food and water. Are you in?" Pete disliked the young man's cowardly manner and frowned.
Hearing this, Ekko's eyes went blank.
Food and water provided?
Oh, Zaun above, why did he not get such good treatment?
Was he less capable than this young man?
Ekko glanced at his own sturdy arm in confusion. No, it was thicker than the other man's thigh.
So where was the problem?
"Really!? I'll do it! Of course I'll do it! How much Shimmer do I have to drink this time?" The young man's eyes lit up.
But hearing him, Ekko frowned, disgust in his eyes.
Had he been mistaken?
"What Shimmer are you talking about? With your potential, you think you get Shimmer? Even I can't get Shimmer now. That stuff has to be injected through professional methods into people with potential. It's just manual work. Are you doing it or not?"
Pete curled his lip, though his face still showed envy when he spoke of Shimmer.
"Just manual work? I'll do it! As long as I get a meal, I'll do anything." Hope for survival shone in the young man's eyes.
"Alright. Come to the Police Office tomorrow. You can choose a few tasks to do. Your pay will be allocated based on how well you complete them, and you can exchange it for an equivalent amount of food and water." Pete explained.
"Not tomorrow. Are there any today?"
The young man grabbed Pete, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Yes, yes. There are three suitable for you today: river inspections, marking dangerous buildings, and hazardous source detection."
Before Pete had even finished speaking, the young man ran toward the Police Office without looking back.
The young man's behavior made Pete stare wide-eyed. He muttered several Zaunite curses before turning back to Ekko.
"Understand now?"
"You assign jobs to Zaunites. The weaker ones receive tasks from the Police Office, while the stronger ones are recruited directly into it. Everyone exchanges labor for food." Ekko sighed.
In Zaun, at least until not long ago.
The food and water Piltover used as social welfare were something they could only dream of earning through labor. Every coin here was tainted, and the law of the jungle played out at every turn.
He did not know what Zaun's future would be like, but in the eyes of that Shimmer-addicted young man, he saw something called hope.
If Viktor truly represented hope, and Silco truly acted for Zaun, then was there still any need for the plans he had worked on day and night?
Hope had not yet been within reach, but it had never felt so close.
"Pete, take me to the Police Office, will you? I want to contribute to Zaun too." Ekko suddenly said seriously.
"Sure, I was about to take you there anyway. The Police Office is in the Black Alley. It used to be an empty shop with an attic above and a basement below, but it was converted into the Police Office building. I think it used to be called... Benzo's Shop. Right, that was the name."
"Benzo's Shop... It used to be a good place." Ekko froze slightly, his tone strange.
"Right, right, it really was a good place. Lord Viktor chose it himself. I remember we found some creative childhood inventions left behind by the shop owner's kid. Lord Viktor even felt quite regretful at the time. He said that if the shopkeeper's child had not died, he would have had a promising future and could have made great contributions to Zaun."
Pete slapped his forehead. Back then, he had taken Viktor to choose a location under Silco's orders, and he had been thrilled beyond measure.
"Hahaha, I think so too."
A smile could always conceal the sorrow in one's heart. Ekko fought back his tears and followed Pete into the place that had once been Benzo's Shop and was now called the Police Office.
After all these years, he had returned.
Perhaps there was finally something to look forward to in life.