Time Reversal

The black boy's words surprised me; it sounded as if he wasn't under control.

What do you mean by that? Why aren't you struggling?

"I am not your enemy; in a sense, we are friends."

"You've regained your memories?"

"I never lost my memory; I simply infiltrated the enemy ranks to gather intelligence."

"Okay, so who are you? And why are you going against Camille?"

"Ekko, the captain of Zaun Kid..."

No wonder he looked familiar, it was Ekko!

I unlocked the Hextech Rope for him and listened to him recount his experiences:

Ekko grew up in Zaun, a place that is not friendly to children, and he had to rely on various gangs to survive.

Zaun has countless gangs, most of which are affiliated with the Kalin Family, while some minor gangs choose to survive independently, and the "Zaun Kid" is one of them.

As the name suggests, the members of Zaun Kid are all children, the oldest being no more than twenty years old, with the vast majority ranging from ten to sixteen years old. In addition to taking care of gang members, they also care for homeless children, preventing them from dying from disease, pollution, and abuse.

These lost children roam the streets and alleys of Zaun, making a living by scavenging useful scrap metal, while also accepting commissions from other gangs.

For example, gathering intelligence or information is something that is easier for children than for adults.

Ekko joined Zaun Kid when he was eight years old. He was a relatively active member of the gang, especially close to "Crazy Sister" Jinx. However, a few years later, she suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight.

Despite the Zaun Kid's comprehensive intelligence, no one knew Jinx's whereabouts until one day when the Piltover Guard came on a mission, Ekko noticed that the squad leader looked very much like the long-lost Crazy Sister!

He tried every means to get close to the Piltover Guard, but was driven away from a distance. Finally, to confirm his idea, he sneaked into Piltover and found an uninhabited house, which was Ezreal's home.

At that time, Jinx had already been transformed into Project Warrior. Because it was still the second generation of armor, her face could not be seen.

Later, when war broke out, Project Warrior were upgraded one after another, and by the sixth and seventh generations, they were no different from normal people.

At this moment, Ekko finally realized that the Piltover Guard squad leader he had met was Jinx!

Her current codename is: Madness!

His suspicious behavior eventually caught Camille's attention, and she sent men to arrest him and conduct a physical examination, which determined that he could be transformed into Project Warrior.

Soon after, Project: Freedom was born.

Normally, people who are transformed into Project Warrior lose their previous memories, but Ekko is different because he has a special Teacher, someone I am familiar with: Kieran.

Kieran is a "mysterious figure" that Ekko meets during his search for Jinx. He is elusive and has a passion for technology as well as being highly skilled in magic.

Of all the magic he possesses, Time Magic is the most wondrous and powerful, often even capable of predicting the future!

However, this magic also has a drawback: it cannot change any foreseeable future.

If he foresees disaster, no matter what efforts he makes, disaster will still occur; if he foresees good fortune, good things will come even if he stays indoors.

Therefore, Kieran began to study technology, believing it to be a weakness of magic, and that combining it with technology might change the future!

Piltover's technology security system was excellent, so he could only target Zaun, and it was during this process that he met Ekko.

Admiring Ekko's intelligence, Kieran took him on as an apprentice and carefully guided him for a while. In the end, he did not disappoint him. Ekko developed the time machine— the Z-Drive!

With the power of the time machine, he accomplished something even Kieran couldn't: go back in time!

This adds a time concept: now.

The future and the past are both relative to the present, and the present is the future in relation to the past!

While Kieran cannot change the future, going back in time is a different story; he can change the present!

However, the limitations of technology were exposed at this point: the time machine could not return to the specified point in time, and it could not control variables.

Simply put, going back to the past still doesn't change the present.

Ultimately, Kieran failed to combine technology and magic; he could not return to the exact past, and time continued to move along its original trajectory.

Kieran then left with the results of their research, intending to explore other places until he could perfectly combine the two.

Ekko continued his search until he was captured by Camille.

Before being modified, he had his brain programmed with a [rewind] technique, a new use of the Z-Drive that Kieran taught him. This technique could change the effects on the brain without altering real time, thus restoring his memories.

After that, Ekko began his "undercover" life. Later, when he heard that Warwick, Huo Su, and I had recovered, he volunteered to come and arrest us in order to find out the truth.

Now that I see I can indeed help Project Warrior regain their memories, I've decided to work together:

"There are still dozens of Project Warrior left. It won't be easy to restore them all, and Camille will definitely be on guard."

Do you have any good ideas?

"It's not a good solution, but I do have a bad idea."

Tell me about it.

"Fiora, Lucian, Yi, and I haven't been exposed yet. You can pretend to be captured by us and then dismantle us from within."

Ekko's plan is similar to Yasuo's back then, but it failed last time, and I was the only one who escaped. I still have similar worries now.

However, Ekko has another safeguard: he can use the Z-Drive to perform a brain "rewind" setting for all of us. As long as our acting is convincing enough, everything will be fine!

After discussion, everyone except Nasus agreed to the plan, and he was only worried about Sivir.

Of course, I didn't want her to take any risks either. "Grand Scholar, you and Sivir should return to Naremajet first. We'll handle the rest!"

"No! I want to go with you. Maybe I can become even stronger after being modified by Project Origin!"

"But you need to pass a physical exam first; if you fail, you'll be removed!"

"Trust me, Ezreal, I'll definitely pass the test!"

After some arguing, Sivir insisted on coming with us, Nasus finally had no choice but to agree.

"Alright, then I'll take Khopesh back to Naremajet first, and I'll be there as soon as you start your uprising!"