Li Ke's Ragtag Team

"So, your meeting with her was just an accident?"

Malson looked at Jinx, then at Li Ke. He couldn't help feeling that something was off.

It was strange.

First of all, why had Li Ke suddenly become so strong? He'd taken down the people Malson feared in just a few moves. And second, how had Jinx, that terrifying lunatic, ended up obediently following Li Ke?

No, wait. More than Li Ke's sudden strength, the most shocking thing was that Jinx actually listened to him!

Who among the Black Alley gang members didn't know the Zaun Godfather had a blue-haired maniac at his side?

How many gangs, how many Barons, how many gang members had fallen at that woman's hands? The Wildfire Gang had openly called her a lunatic, and had clashed with Jinx many times.

There were also rumors circulating in the underworld that whenever something big happened up in Piltover, there was an eight-in-ten chance that crazy woman was involved. And now, that crazy woman was leaning against Li Ke's back, feeding herself little pastries with her fingers.

Malson simply couldn't imagine how Li Ke had managed to calm a lunatic down.

"Jinx, take her to have a bath first." Li Ke had no idea what Malson was thinking. He reached back and patted Jinx on the shoulder.

The little one sitting quietly on the sofa was nodding forward, then leaning back. Her expression clearly showed how sleepy she was. Li Ke glanced at the time and realized it was already past nine at night.

"Give her a bath?" Jinx instinctively wanted to object, but for some reason, she changed her mind and nodded. "All right, all right. I'll do it."

As if she could find some amusement in it, she hopped down from the stool and beckoned to the little girl. "Hey, kid. Come here."

The little girl heard Jinx call her and immediately climbed down from the sofa. She pulled her hat lower over her head and quickly followed Jinx.

She stepped forward, about to hug one of Jinx's legs, but Jinx put a hand on her head to hold her back. "Don't get so close to me. I only just bathed yesterday."

The little girl froze, her eyes dimming. But Jinx's next words and actions made them light up again.

"Hey, Little Mute, do you like the tattoos on me? Here's a little secret: they're not real tattoos. But if you like them, I can draw one for you too, just like mine." Jinx touched the Cloud Pattern on her abdomen. With a little pressure, the pattern faded considerably.

"I really like drawing."

She reached out and ruffled the little girl's head again.

Li Ke was surprised when he heard what Jinx said.

What? It was drawn on?

Honestly, Li Ke hadn't known Jinx's tattoos were drawn on. He'd thought they were real. After all, tattoos weren't forbidden for Zaun's children. It was perfectly normal for underage kids to have a few.

Still, it was a good thing they were drawn on. Drawn-on tattoos wouldn't affect someone's chances of passing the civil service exam.

Huh? Wait, why had I suddenly thought of the civil service exam?

You had to go to Piltover to take that exam, right?

Then Jinx was out of luck. She'd lost that right from the day she was born.

Li Ke wore a strange expression, his thoughts wandering far afield.

Come to think of it, Li Ke didn't like tattoos either. Were there even many respectable people who liked Rune Mages?

But temporary tattoos were different. They were a nice little bonus in the bedroom~

When Malson saw Jinx leave, he grew bolder. He took a deep breath and looked at Li Ke. "Li Ke, there's something I want to say."

"Go ahead."

"I don't know how you became so strong, Li Ke, but I want to ask you for a favor." Malson looked at Li Ke seriously. He hesitated, then continued, "I want to work for you."

"Work for me?" Li Ke understood what Malson meant. He opened his mouth to reply, but Malson cut him off.

"You've seen it for yourself. The Ci Mu Gang is finished. Mark died at your hands. And what about me? I can't survive in the Sump alone. People like me can only band together with others and do whatever it takes to stay alive.

"Otherwise, we'll become cogs the people in power can manipulate as they please. But I've had enough of that life, Li Ke. I've really had enough."

Malson reached up with his good hand and clutched at his hair. He forced a few words out of his throat. "You're different. With the strength you have now, you can claim a place for yourself and become your own Boss."

Zaun was a place where the strongest voice was the loudest. Money and power were controlled by the same thing: strength.

"Just me, and you?" Li Ke furrowed his brow and looked at Malson. A steady stream of emotional energy poured from Malson, adding to the Soul Blossom Energy Bar.

The amount and quality were nowhere near what Jinx had offered, but still far exceeded the energy Li Ke could absorb from other people he'd met.

Li Ke suddenly had an idea. Maybe the "emotions" people felt toward him could add more to the Energy Bar?

That would explain why Jinx contributed so much.

Jinx was too "pure." In her world, there were only three kinds of people: strangers, the dead, and family.

She didn't care about strangers, and she couldn't interact with the dead. So family was the only outlet for Jinx's emotions. Was that why she had become Li Ke's Top Supporter?

If Li Ke's guess about what filled the Soul Blossom Energy Bar was right,

then maybe he really did need to consider Malson's offer.

Building a faction would expand his influence and raise the Soul Blossom Energy Bar, giving him more chances to descend.

The only reason Li Ke could sit comfortably in this room was Soul Blossom. It was his capital.

If his guess was right, then he really should start preparing to build his own team.

Li Ke had no intention of working for Silco. Being close to Jinx didn't mean he would join Silco's side. At the same time, Li Ke had no plans to join Piltover like Vi.

There had been endless online debates about whether Silco was right or wrong. A quick search through a few related forums was enough to find posts evaluating him. Opinions were sharply divided, but the general conclusion was that Silco did want to help Zaun reclaim its dignity, yet his extreme actions had also brought disaster to Zaunites.

He let the Alchemical Barons oppress the people, keeping his eyes fixed on the distant future while ignoring the cries for help around him.

Yes, the powerful only cared about the "big picture" and the "end result." But Li Ke wasn't one of them.

He cared more about the present.

Li Ke straightened and looked at Malson. "Tell me what you have in mind, Malson. I'll hear you out."

"You won't be alone. Remember Weila and the others? And Manzu? They're still alive too, struggling to survive in various gangs. I can find them. We'll all work for you, and we can rebuild a new Black Alley." Malson added earnestly, "This whole thing taught me something. Maybe the Wildfire Gang was right. We can learn from their ideals."

"But just having people isn't enough." Li Ke shook his head.

Zaun wasn't short on people willing to risk their lives. What it lacked was strength.

Weapons were what mattered most.

Malson thought it over and narrowed his eyes. "You mean weapons?"

"What else?"

"..."

Malson's expression turned strange. "But don't you have her? Could there be anyone in Zaun who's a smarter or more capable weapons maker?"

Oh, right.

We have Jinx.

Li Ke nodded and told Malson to gather everyone first. If there were enough of them, he'd give it serious consideration.

At that, Malson immediately stood up.

"Malson, your injuries haven't healed yet. Don't you want to rest for a couple of days?" Li Ke tried to stop him as he was about to leave.

But Malson refused.

His reason was—

"Better not, Li Ke. Didn't you see the way Jinx looked at me earlier? If I stay here, there's a real chance she'll come out and shoot me tonight."

"Powder has changed. She's not the greedy little kid we knew anymore. She's Jinx now, Silco's Jinx. I don't know how you get along with her, but anyway, you need to be careful—"

"That's enough, Malson."

Li Ke cut him off impatiently and said softly, "Whether she's Powder or Jinx, what difference does it make? She's good to me, so I'm good to her. What does her name, whose side she's on, or what she's done have to do with anything?"

"Even Vander would still love her, whether she was Powder or Jinx."

"You can go. Come back and find me once you've taken care of things."

Li Ke didn't want to explain himself to Malson. Of course he knew Jinx had done plenty of wrong things, but was Malson's own record really clean?

Li Ke's wasn't clean either.

No, in Zaun, hardly anyone had truly clean hands.

Even Vander had made plenty of foolish mistakes.

Besides, there was still time to set things right.

Even Vi could forgive Jinx. Who was Malson to say she couldn't?

Malson looked at Li Ke and saw how serious he was. He swallowed the rest of his words, nodded, and left.

At the same time, Jinx, who had been listening in from the second-floor landing, heard the downstairs fall silent. She looked down at the little one wearing her T-shirt. On the girl, it looked just like a dress, reaching down to her calves.

Jinx wasn't short, despite being so thin. She was 164 centimeters tall~

The little girl looked up at her. Jinx gave a little snort and vigorously ruffled her damp hair, keeping her from seeing the expression on her face.

The little girl lifted her head as far as she could, not understanding why Jinx had suddenly done that.

She was clever. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to escape from the Alchemical Baron. So after just one day together, she'd figured out one thing: Jinx only ruffled her head when she was happy.

And now, Jinx had ruffled her head.

Seeing Jinx smile—a gentle smile, with clear eyes—the little girl opened her mouth and showed Jinx her own toothless grin.

Jinx furrowed her brow and pretended to be disgusted. "You have such an ugly smile. Where's your front tooth?"

She said that, but her hand on the little girl's head gave it a couple more vigorous ruffles.