Back at the Lian Hua Gang's hideout, Malson saw Li Ke and hurried over.
Then he saw Jinx, who had already recovered on the way back and was now fooling around with Isha, along with Vi, who looked completely dejected, her spirits at rock bottom.
They'd only been gone for a little while. How had Vi ended up looking like this?
Malson was curious.
Unfortunately, no one was going to give him an answer, because Li Ke had already led Jinx and Isha toward the tent.
Seeing this, Malson looked at Vi, wanting to ask what had happened.
"Vi, you—"
"Get out of my way!"
Vi shoved Malson and rushed straight after Li Ke and Jinx, brushing past him as she entered the tent.
"Damn it!"
"She thinks it's still like the old days? Could she even take Li Ke in a fight? How dare she treat me like that? I'm the Boss's man!" Malson muttered unhappily under his breath.
The Children of Black Alley had all taken their share of beatings from Vi, especially Malson. He'd been a troublemaker as a kid and Vi had pinned him down and beaten him several times. Hmm, hadn't Li Ke been beaten by Vi too?
Malson wandered around, muttering to himself. Then he spotted the pretty Piltover Girl sneaking up to the tent to eavesdrop.
When he saw her, Malson instinctively wanted to stop Caitlyn, but then he remembered what Li Ke had said: as long as she didn't wander off, she could do whatever she liked.
Thinking of that, Malson didn't stop Caitlyn from eavesdropping.
Meanwhile, inside the tent—
Li Ke and Isha sat together, watching Vi and Jinx, whose moods were both gloomy. The sisters exchanged a few words, but mostly Vi did the talking while Jinx brushed her off.
"Um, well, Jinx, I'm heading out for a bit. You two have a good talk."
At the sound of this, Vi turned and gave Li Ke a grateful look. She really did need a chance to be alone with Jinx.
As soon as Isha saw Li Ke get up, she grabbed his hand and made a couple of little sounds, indicating that she wanted to go out too.
Isha couldn't stand the atmosphere either!
It was so strange!
Her sister clearly liked that red-haired woman, so why was she treating her like this?
From what Isha knew of her sister, if someone else had clung to her and pestered her like this, she would have shot them dead already. Why was she sitting there so obediently, listening to the other person talk?
It was obvious: she liked her and cared about her!
But if she liked her and cared about her, why wouldn't she show it?
Little Isha couldn't figure it out, so she wisely summed it up as: Adults are just like that—slow and troublesome.
Li Ke looked at Isha and smiled.
He really was growing fonder and fonder of the Little Tagalong Jinx had brought back. Holding Isha's hand, Li Ke walked out of the tent. As soon as he stepped outside, he spotted Caitlyn bent over with her butt sticking up as she eavesdropped.
"Ahem." Li Ke cleared his throat.
Caitlyn quickly turned around. A flush crept across her face, and her eyes were full of embarrassment. She brushed off her knees, stood up, and said to Li Ke, "Did you see Silco just now?"
"Enforcer, were you just eavesdropping on us?"
"I was—I just happened to be passing by." Caitlyn didn't look too bright as she told an incredibly stupid lie.
Isha curled her lip and looked away from the cop.
If Jinx hated someone, then Isha hated them too.
See? This was exactly why Isha knew her sister liked that red-haired woman. If the person bothering her sister inside had been this cop, Isha would probably be getting a white sheet ready to cover her sister's corpse.
"All right, carry on with your walk. I have some things to take care of. In a few days, I'll have someone take you back to the Upper City. For now, please stay here." Li Ke said this to Caitlyn.
Seeing that Li Ke wasn't calling her out, Caitlyn nodded vigorously. She held out a hand and stiffly wiggled her fingers, as if waving hello.
Li Ke smiled and turned away from Caitlyn.
But Isha followed him. Looking down at her, Li Ke asked, "Do you want to come with me?"
Isha was playing with a toy. At his words, she didn't look up; she just held out her hand to him.
Li Ke understood what Isha meant. He took her hand and smiled. "Then stay close to me. The place we're going is dangerous."
At the Fugen Tavern, Silco sat at a table, drinking.
After sending Sevika and the rest of his men out, Silco gazed out the window, feeling that today's liquor tasted especially bitter.
As he drank alone, Silco suddenly smiled, raised his glass toward the distance, and said to himself, "Vander, I'm sorry, brother. I'll admit you were right once. Of course, that was the only time."
"Having a daughter really is a lot of trouble."
Silco poured the liquor onto the floor. Just then, a voice sounded behind him—
"Uncle, Daddy Vander wasn't right only once. He was right about a lot of things."
Silco quickly turned around. When he saw who it was, he turned back toward the window and asked, "How did you manage to change like that? Is it some kind of technology from the Upper City?"
"Do I look like I've had some kind of technology installed?"
Li Ke walked into Silco's room and first set little Isha down on the sofa.
The moment Isha entered the room, she grew excited, because familiar graffiti covered the place.
"Mmya!"
She turned around, opened her mouth to show Li Ke the adorable gap where one of her teeth was missing, and pointed excitedly at a spot.
"You mean the drawings here are just like the ones at home?" Li Ke said with a smile.
Isha nodded vigorously.
Li Ke looked at Silco, who was pouring himself another drink.
"Do you have any juice?" Li Ke suddenly asked Silco.
"..."
Silco fell silent. But after a long moment, he opened a drawer in his desk and took out a cup painted with a monkey in blue and pink, along with a bottle of juice.
He really did have some.
Holy crap. I knew Silco doted on Jinx, but wasn't this a little too much?
Silco poured a cup of juice, set it on the table, and pushed it toward Li Ke. Li Ke picked it up and handed it to Isha.
Drinking her juice, Isha wandered all around the room, curious about everything.
This was where her sister had lived!
Li Ke turned his attention to Silco.
"Li Ke, you have the ability. You should join me. With you by my side, we can make Zaun independent."
"Self-governance isn't just my dream. It was Vander's dream too."
"No, it's every Zaunite's dream."
"That really is my dream, but Uncle, the way you're trying to change things is too extreme, in my opinion." Li Ke took the drink Silco had poured for him and shook his head.
"And I didn't come here so you could recruit me. I came to discuss a deal with you."
"A deal?"
"That's right, Uncle. I want you to put a stop to the spread of Shimmer, keep the Alchemical Barons' factories under control, and let—"
Silco raised a hand, cutting Li Ke off. "Put a stop to the spread of Shimmer? Do you know why it's called Shimmer?"
"Because it's a faint glimmer of light for the people of the Bottom City."
"I admit that Shimmer has hurt a lot of people, but that's their own problem. They lack self-control and use it the wrong way. Used properly, Shimmer does no harm." Silco's voice turned heavy.
As Zaun's godfather and the mastermind behind everything, he knew exactly what the Bottom City was like now. But so what?
Looking at Li Ke, Silco continued, "Reform requires bloodshed. Sacrifice is unavoidable."
"What did Vander and the sheriff get in return for their verbal peace treaty? We were penned into the Bottom City. The people of Piltover kept pushing their limits, again and again. The mines collapsed, the river was polluted, and the air grew foul."
"If that's all you came here to discuss, then you can leave. Or you can make your move."
As he spoke, Silco reached for the gun secured beneath the table, his hand hidden there since earlier.
He never entrusted his life to anyone, not even someone he knew.
That was why he'd prepared to fight back as soon as Li Ke walked in.
But Li Ke merely spread his hands and said,
"Why the rush?"
"I haven't even said anything yet."
"Listen to the deal I want to make, and then you can decide."
"Silco."
Before you continue