Early in the morning, at the Lian Hua Gang's hideout, Li Ke grabbed a cup with a little water in it and took his toothbrush outside the tent.
As soon as he stepped out, he spotted Vi crouching in a corner.
After a moment's thought, Li Ke walked over and stopped beside her.
He put the toothpaste-dabbed toothbrush in his mouth and spoke up.
"Vi, how'd you sleep last night?"
Vi turned. Seeing it was Li Ke, she spat out the foam in her mouth, then nodded. "Not bad. A lot better than prison."
"Has Jinx talked to you?" Li Ke asked.
Vi rubbed her pink hair. "No. She came out of your tent early this morning, then took that little girl somewhere. I don't know where."
"Her name's Isha. She's a really sweet girl," Li Ke said at once.
Vi took a mouthful of water and gargled. After spitting it out, she wiped the corner of her mouth and looked at Li Ke. "Li Ke, you know that's not what I wanted to ask."
"We grew up together, so I won't beat around the bush. What's going on between you and Jinx? Did you sleep together?"
"Don't say things like that. Isha was there too, wasn't she?" Li Ke's mouth twitched.
He said Isha had been there, but he sounded far from confident.
Because last night, while they were sleeping, Jinx had draped a leg over him. She hadn't made it obvious, but now that she'd seen Vi again and talked with her, the wall between them had started to come down. It wasn't completely gone, but it was enough to make Jinx happy.
She was in a great mood, so naturally, her sleeping posture was terrible.
Now that she felt safe, she was practically throwing punches in her sleep!
But the whole thing was complicated!
Yes, Jinx and I had slept together—and more than once or twice. But the thing was, I, Li Ke, hadn't done anything!
We'd only slept. That was all!
But if I told Vi that, would she believe me?
"Oh, Jinx and I are just sleeping together. Don't get the wrong idea. We just slept. Nothing happened."
Vi would have to be crazy not to punch me for saying that!
Li Ke could easily beat Vi now, of course, since she didn't have the Hextech Gauntlet yet. But the problem was, he was still in the wrong here.
No matter the era, time, or place, this would sound absolutely outrageous!
"Ha. Do I look like a virgin to you?" Vi raised an eyebrow. "Even if you did, I wouldn't say anything. You've seen how she treats me."
"Heh. Anyway, we didn't do anything." Li Ke crouched beside Vi and brushed his teeth.
Yeah, right. Trying to bait me into admitting it?
You really were a future Piltover Enforcer.
Vi hesitated, then asked, "Li Ke, what are you going to do about Caitlyn?"
"Li Ke, Caitlyn's a good person. She—she's not like the other Piltovans or Enforcers."
"Of course I'm sending her back to the Upper City. She'll only get in our way here."
"Us?" Vi stared at him.
"Who else?" Li Ke looked at Vi and continued, "You're not planning to go back to the Upper City with Caitlyn, are you? If you do, Jinx will go up there that very night and blow you both to hell. Believe me?"
"Of course I'm staying with my sister! And her name's Powder, not Jinx," Vi said loudly. Then she lowered her voice. "But if I really left with Caitlyn, would she actually blow me up?"
"Something's wrong up here. Fixing it will take time and medicine." Li Ke pointed to his head. "We have time, but there's only one medicine: you, Vi. You're her medicine. If you leave without a word again, she really will lose it this time."
"..."
"I told you, I'm staying with her. I—I'm just worried about Caitlyn," Vi sighed.
When she'd seen Powder last night, Vi had noticed that she wasn't in a good place mentally. She was agitated, talking to herself, and seemed completely unhinged.
"You weren't like this before. When we were kids, you told us all Piltovans were bastards and deserved to die. You said you'd be somebody someday and make those Skinny Guys pay. So what happened to you?" Li Ke asked with a laugh.
Vi rolled her eyes. "I still feel that way. It's just that not every Piltovan is a bastard. Caitlyn's a good person, and good people shouldn't be bullied."
"Don't worry. I won't do anything to her. She's the young lady of the Kiramman Family. If anything happened to her, even Silco couldn't handle the consequences."
"Kiramman?" Vi was startled. "She's that councilor's daughter?"
"She's the real deal. She's the next heir to the Kiramman Family." Li Ke nodded.
"Speaking of Silco, Li Ke, what are you going to do about him? He's looking for me, and he's looking for Powder too."
"Leave that to me. I'll deal with it when the time comes."
"If you're going after him, count me in. Thanks to him, Powder's ended up like this." Vi's expression turned fierce.
Looking at Vi, Li Ke spat out the toothpaste foam and suddenly asked, "What about you?"
"Vi, don't you ever feel wronged? You've suffered just as much as Jinx over the years." Li Ke corrected himself.
He didn't care whether she was Jinx or Powder. What mattered to him was her.
With Vi, he'd still call her Powder, so she wouldn't keep correcting him.
Vi froze for a moment. Her eyes reddened, but she gave him a carefree smile and shrugged. "What did I suffer? Prison just meant bad food and bad sleep. It's nothing. Besides, I'm the big sister."
Li Ke smiled, patted Vi on the shoulder, then stood and held out a hand. "Welcome to the team, Vi."
Vi reached out and shook his hand.
Li Ke pulled her to her feet.
When he returned to the tent, Jinx and Isha still hadn't come back. They hadn't gone far, though. Malson said they'd gone out early to scavenge at the nearby junkyard, so there was no need to worry about them.
Come to think of it, Jinx had taken Isha out first thing in the morning, deliberately walking right past Vi. Was that her way of acting tsundere?
Was she trying to make Vi jealous and angry?
But damn, she was all attitude and no action.
Lying down on the bedding, Li Ke gave some thought to what Vi had said.
Silco really was a major problem. Li Ke preferred Vander, partly because the original owner's memories had influenced him, and partly because Li Ke naturally felt more affection for the old man who'd been the father of the whole Black Alley. But he had to admit Silco had a point too.
Silco and Vander had different ideals, but in the end, both wanted Zaun to stand tall and become a better place.
Should he kill Silco?
No. If Silco really died, Zaun would only descend into greater chaos. Zaun was already no place for people to live, but if Silco died, there'd be no one to keep the Alchemical Barons in check and unite them. Zaun would be trapped in endless infighting.
Silco was a talent. He far surpassed Vander when it came to management and development. There wasn't another person like him in all of Zaun. Li Ke didn't think he could run a city himself, so...
What should he do?
"In the end, I'm still not strong enough."
Li Ke raised a hand toward the tent's ceiling, then closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he was already in the Soul Blossom space.
He looked at the Energy Bar and saw that, during this time, he'd accumulated one Advent opportunity.
Including the one he hadn't used before, he now had two Advent opportunities.
"Damn it, Thresh shouldn't still be waiting for me, right?"
Thinking this, Li Ke reached out and touched the light screen of Soul Blossom.
He opened his mouth and softly said:
"Advent."
Before you continue