Vi Was Still Alive? Was She Looking for Me?

"You've been following me the whole way?"

"Yes. We saw you taking care of Vi. Otherwise, you wouldn't be standing here talking to us right now."

Caitlyn stopped when she heard Malson's words. Frowning, she looked at him. "You'd dare lay a hand on an enforcer?"

Malson smiled. "Normally, we wouldn't dare. Who'd be stupid enough to go after you? But things are different now. The Sump's in chaos. If an enforcer happens to go missing down there, who's to say who did it?"

Malson put heavy emphasis on the words "happens to," making Caitlyn's skin crawl.

Uneasily rubbing her arms, Caitlyn lowered her head and muttered a couple of words before following them again.

Then she saw the group bring Vi to a place where a girl about five-foot-three came running over. Malson said something to her, and she hurriedly pulled something out of her pocket.

Caitlyn immediately stepped forward to stop her. "Wait, is that Shimmer?"

"You're going to give her Shimmer?" Caitlyn couldn't understand.

Wasn't this stuff the reason Zaunites had become something between human and monster?

"Of course."

"But it's a drug!"

"They've been using it wrong. Shimmer isn't just some addictive toy. Used properly, it can be a lifesaving medicine. Move aside. Don't make me say it twice." Malson frowned at Caitlyn.

If he hadn't seen her taking care of Vi earlier, he really would have dared to go after her.

Just as he'd told Caitlyn, when the Sump descended into chaos, was it really so strange for one or two enforcers to go missing?

An explosion had taken place in Piltover recently, killing six enforcers. The people up top didn't know what had happened, but how could those of them living in the Bottom City not know?

It was probably that crazy woman Jinx again. But what had come of it? Silco had turned it into an accident, and somehow they'd managed to sweep the whole thing under the rug.

And in a time like this, that cop had come alone to the Black Alley. What on earth had she been thinking?

Should he call her brainless?

Malson raised a hand, and Weila and Manzu stepped forward to block Caitlyn.

Then Malson dripped some Shimmer into Vi's mouth, using only a little. He didn't dare give her too much.

As Vi inhaled the Shimmer and it took effect, she began to cry out in pain. Her pupils dilated in her open eyes, then began to shrink again.

"Vi?"

"Vi!"

Malson called out. As the purple light faded from Vi's pupils, her gaze shifted to his face. Then she spotted Caitlyn, held back behind him.

In an instant, Vi thrust out both hands, seized Malson by the arm, and yanked him into a chokehold, her arm clamped around his throat.

"Wait!" Malson shouted, slapping hard at Vi's arm.

He struggled to breathe, and he was stunned.

He hadn't been a match for Vi even when they were kids. But after all these years, Malson had thought that the difference between men and women would at least make him strong enough to beat her now. He hadn't expected her to take him down in a single move.

Malson didn't think he was especially strong, but he'd been with the Ci Mu Gang for years and had been in plenty of fights. Yet here he was, held like a chick in Vi's grasp.

If the cop who'd come with Vi weren't being held back by Weila and Manzu, and if Vi weren't worried about her, would a single flex of Vi's arm snap his neck?

Malson was stunned.

What the hell was this woman made of?

Neither of these sisters was normal!

"Let them go," Vi said.

"Vi, it's me. Malson."

"It's me, Malson from the Black Alley!"

"You bastard!"

Malson gasped in pain.

Vi froze. Her grip loosened a little, and she looked carefully around. Then she saw Weila and Manzu.

"Weila?"

"It's me, Big Sister." Weila nodded to Vi.

"How... How did it end up being you?" Vi let go of Malson.

Malson immediately doubled over, coughing at the ground. Once he'd recovered a little, he turned around and sat on the floor. Looking up at Vi as she stood, he said helplessly, "We should be asking you that. How did it end up being you, Vi? Weren't you dead?"

"How did you suddenly show up here and cause such a commotion?"

"That's a long story." Vi rubbed her head. Caitlyn came over to stand behind her, staying silent.

"But more importantly, Malson, I need to ask you something." Vi looked at him, then asked anxiously, "Where's my sister? Where's Powder? Where is she?"

"Powder? Uh, right. She's with our Boss." Malson thought it over before answering.

"Your Boss?" Vi froze for a moment, then recalled the information she'd gathered over the past few days, as well as what Sevika had told her.

Her expression instantly turned furious, and her pupils reddened. She lunged at him, straddled him, grabbed him by the collar, and raised her right fist, raging like a wild mother leopard. "Are you working for Silco?"

"Shit, who told you my Boss was Silco?"

"Why are you still like this? Let me finish, will you?" Malson protested.

Ten minutes later, Malson had told Vi everything he knew. In return, he got a look of disbelief from her.

She rubbed her head with both hands, feeling like her thoughts were in a jumble. "Li Ke? Wasn't he your underling before? How'd things get switched around?"

Malson was about to explain.

Vi cut him off, unconcerned. "Forget it. That doesn't matter. Malson, I need your help now. Take me to Li Ke. I have to find my sister."

Caitlyn stood nearby, at a loss for words.

She wanted to ask Vi what the point of coming down here had been if she hadn't done anything at all.

Caitlyn had come down here and neither seen Silco, the suspected mastermind, nor found the wanted criminal who'd blown up a building in Piltover.

"Now?"

"Vi, do you think we were the only ones who saw you?" Malson shook his head. "Silco's people are looking for you everywhere. You can't go anywhere right now."

Vi hurriedly shook her head. "No. I have to find Powder."

"If you go out now, you'll cause trouble for yourself and for us. Understand? Stay here. I'll pass the word to Jinx for you." Malson put a hand on Vi's shoulder.

"I'll go upstairs and tell our Boss and Powder you're here. Don't worry."

"You don't understand. I can't wait another second! I have to see her with my own eyes. I've waited years for this day. I have to find my sister."

"You've already waited this long. What difference will half a day or one more day make? At a time like this, if Silco's people find you, it'll all be over! Vi, get a hold of yourself. We wouldn't lie to you." Weila couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward to Vi's side.

Looking at Vi, he continued, "I understand how you feel, but think about what I've said."

Vi calmed down, and Malson breathed a sigh of relief.

He gave Vi's shoulders a couple of hearty pats and couldn't help laughing. "Don't worry. She's safe, and our Boss is taking good care of her. Besides, do you think we don't know how much she means to you? You beat us up plenty of times over her when we were kids."

"Sorry, Malson. I lost control." Vi gave him a bitter smile and nodded.

"Right. I'll go pass the word along." Malson stood up.

Vi watched as Malson spoke to the people on either side of him, then left the hideout alone.

Seeing that, Vi began to stare blankly into space.

During all those years in prison, she had truly believed that Powder was dead.

......

Mid-level Plaza.

In the living room on the first floor of Li Ke's home, Isha sat on the floor wearing a hat, carefully examining a blueprint. It showed something that looked like a tin can. Its structure seemed crude, but in reality, its design was remarkably ingenious.

Using the simplest materials to make the wildest things—that was Jinx's philosophy.

Now, Isha looked from the blueprint to the can beside her. She tried hard to take it apart but couldn't open it. Still, with the blueprint, she figured it was only a matter of time before she learned how to dismantle the can.

As she prodded the tin can with a screwdriver, Isha's little ears twitched. She heard something happening upstairs.

Her hearing was naturally sharp. It was also why she'd managed to evade adults trying to catch her time and again.

"What? Vi's looking for me?"

"Where is she? Where's my sister?"

"What do you mean, calm down? How am I supposed to calm down? Vi's looking for me! My sister's looking for me! I thought she was dead!"

"No, I'm going to find her right now!"

Jinx's shrill voice made Isha look up.

"Don't rush, Jinx."

It was Li Ke's voice. Isha set down the can and listened even more intently.

"I'll go down with you."

"We have to avoid Silco's notice."

"Right, Silco lied to me. Why did he lie to me? Li Ke, he told me Vi was dead!"

"Malson, are you sure it was Vi? Can you be certain?"

"Jinx, it was Vi. I'm sure. But there was someone with her too."

"Shut your mouth, Malson."

"Yes, Boss."

Isha didn't quite understand the conversation, so the little girl tilted her head as she looked up at the ceiling.

But soon, she heard footsteps.

Then Jinx, Li Ke, and the man Isha didn't care about came downstairs together.

"Little one, come on. We have to leave." Jinx spotted Isha and waved her over.

She wasn't smiling. Her little face was filled with complicated emotions.

But Isha didn't hesitate. As soon as Jinx called for her, she hurriedly picked up the blueprint from the floor, grabbed the can, and ran over to her.

Li Ke followed behind them, his expression just as complicated.

The story had gone off course.

And by a lot.

Perhaps the plot of War of Two Cities had already changed the moment he met Jinx. And now, Malson and a group of Lian Hua Gang members had run into Vi and Caitlyn.

That had been beyond Li Ke's expectations too, but it was a good thing.

Rather than let Vi and Jinx meet amid all sorts of uncertainties, he could take control of their reunion himself.

Li Ke remembered clearly that in the show, after Vi left Stillwater Prison, she had only one thing on her mind: finding Jinx. But one mishap after another had gradually driven a wedge between them.

And those rifts had been the fuse that finally set off the war between the two cities.

Li Ke had just interrupted Malson because Jinx's mental state had clearly changed the moment she heard Vi's name.

If she hadn't come to trust Li Ke over the past few days, and if little Isha hadn't been there, Jinx might already have dashed off to the Bottom City in a mad frenzy to find Vi. Instead, she'd listened to Li Ke. Though anxious and restless, she had managed to hold herself back.

But what if Malson had finished what he was saying?

He'd said that someone else was with Vi. Surely Li Ke knew who that person was.

Caitlyn.

If Jinx found out that her sister had come looking for her with an enforcer from Piltover, she'd probably start imagining all sorts of things. After all, she'd just blown up a building, killed six enforcers, and stolen a Hextech Crystal and a notebook. If Vi suddenly showed up looking for her with a female cop, it'd be strange if Jinx didn't misunderstand.

Taking a deep breath, Li Ke looked at Malson.

"Let's go, Malson. Lead the way."

"Take us to Vi."